


Star Wars a New Hope

by Ashton210



Series: RWBY STYLE [3]
Category: RWBY, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:53:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 22,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24264649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashton210/pseuds/Ashton210
Summary: movies, shows but with Rwby characters in it.
Series: RWBY STYLE [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751530
Kudos: 1





	1. 1 start

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

STAR WARS

It is a period of civil war.

Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire.

During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.

Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents, Princess Weiss races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...

As the text flew off into the depths of the void, the camera panned down to a view over a desert planet with two moons. A small ship flew over the planet, lasers firing behind it. The reason why became apparent when another, larger and triangular ship came into view after it, firing it's own lasers at its prey. The smaller vessel clearly had the speed advantage, but the larger craft had the edge in sheer weight of fire. As evidenced when one blast managed to hit the smaller vessel amid-ship.

Inside, a tall, green, humanoid robot stumbled as the impact was felt all over the ship. It was accompanied by another robot with pink and green coloring that rolled along on three legs, one of which came from under the main body. Alarms blared, and the ship's crew ran to their battlestations.

"Did you hear that?" the green robot said in a familiar voice.

The pink and green robot whistled in response.

"They've shut down the main reactor. We'll be destroyed for sure! This is madness." The soldiers ran past them and took up defensive positions ahead of a door, strange looking guns in hand. "We're doomed." The smaller bot whistled some kind of argument. "There'll be no escape for the princess this time." A strange noise was heard overhead. "What was that?"

Outside, the ship could be seen being pulled in by the larger vessel. Apparently, the single hit was enough for them to catch up. The droids and the soldiers all listened as the noise grew louder. An older soldier, realizing what was coming, focused on the door. His instincts proved correct.

As the noise ceased, the sides of the door erupted with sparks before it exploded. Soldiers in white armor streamed through the smoke in the entrance, their own guns firing away. The defenders were ready, for the most part, and were able to hold the door for a short time. The defenders fell in droves as more attackers poured through the entrance and they soon broke and ran.

A squad of defenders ran past a hallway just as Ren and his companion started to come out. The defenders took position at one end of the hallway and managed to keep the attackers held up. Using the firefight as a distraction, the droids crossed the hallway without a scratch and down another hallway. The fighting continued, and the regrouped defenders fell back again.

Back at the entrance, a figure in all black stepped onto the ship. They were tall and their breathing was audible. The figure stood in the hallway and observed the damage while the attackers around them stood at attention.

Weiss inserted a flat square drive of some kind in to the green and pink droid just under what must have constituted an eye on it. she was dressed in all white with a shawl over her hair, which done up in it's usual style.

"P3-N1, where are you?" Ren said, walking into the darkened hallway, soldiers running past behind him.

Ren looked down the hallway to see Weiss finish her work and retreat deeper into the halls of the ship. Penny waddle-turned in place and moved down the hall.

"At last! Where have you been?" Ren said. Penny tootled a response. "They're heading this way. What are we going to do? We'll be sent to the spice mines of Kessel or smashed into who knows what! Hey! Where are you going?" he yelled as she moved past him.

The stormtroopers escorted prisoners and droids down the halls of the ship. On the bridge, the Black One was holding a defending officer by his neck off the floor.

"The Death Star plans are not in the main computer." A stormtrooper reported to the Black One.

"Where are those transmissions you intercepted?" The figure, now identified as a she, said. Her voice was deep and tinny, but was still distinctly feminine. "What have you done with those plans?"

"We intercepted no transmissions!" the officer said, struggling to get the words out and oxygen in. "This is a consular ship! We're on a diplomatic mission!"

"If this is a consular ship, where is the ambassador?" She was unable to get an answer as the man's neck broke from the strain placed upon it and he fell limp. The Black One tossed him aside as though he were nothing more than a doll. "Commander, tear this ship apart until you've found those plans!" she yelled, "And bring me the prisoners! I want them alive!"

The stormtroopers did just that. In one section of the ship, a quartet was searching the side corridors. Weiss, now packing a gun of her own, looked into the hallway and took aim. Seeing her, one of the troopers alerted his fellows, ordering them to set their weapons for stun. It was all he could do before Weiss blasted him in the chest. She turned to run, but the man next to him fired his blaster. A ring of blue light hit Weiss and she fell forward, dropping her gun.

"She'll be alright." The shooter said, "Inform Lady Vader we have a prisoner."

In a separate part of the ship, Penny was waddling into some kind of pod.

"Hey, you're not permitted in there. it's restricted. You'll be deactivated for sure." Ren told her. She ignored him, and just got in. "Don't call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease. Now come out of there before someone sees you." Penny whistled in argument. "Secret mission? What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not getting in there." A blaster bolt impacting near his head quickly changed his mind.

"I'm going to regret this." He grumbled as he climbed into the pod. The door closed behind him and the pod blasted into space. On the enemy ship, they were spotted by a weapons team.

"There goes another one." The gunner said.

"Hold your fire. There's no lifeforms." The officer ordered. "It must have short-circuited."

"That's strange. The damage doesn't look as bad from out here." Ren said as the larger ship shrunk in the distance. Penny made a few unknown sounds. "Are you sure this thing is safe?" Penny whistled. Apparently, it didn't make Ren feel any better as they hurtled toward the desert planet below.

Weiss was escorted to Lady Vader by the same squad of stormtroopers who found her.

"Darth Vader." She said with disdain. "Only you could be so bold. The Imperial Senate will not stand for this. When they hear you've attacked a diplomatic- "

"Don't be so surprised your highness." Vader interrupted. "You weren't on any mercy mission this time. Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I am a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Atlas." Weiss insisted.

"You are part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor. Take her away!" The stormtroopers escorted her back to their ship, while Vader and what was assumed to be an officer of some kind walked in the other direction.

"Holding her is dangerous." The officer said, trying to make sense of his superiors' actions. "If word of this gets out, it could generate sympathy for the rebellion in the Senate."

"I have traced the rebel spies to her." Vader explained. "Now, she is my only link to finding their secret base."

"She'll die before she'll tell you anything."

"Leave that to me. Send a distress signal, and then inform the Senate that all aboard were killed."

"Lady Vader," Another officer said, coming from the central computer. "The battle station plans are not aboard this ship, and no transmissions were made. An escape pod was jettisoned during the fighting, but no lifeforms were aboard."

"She must have hidden the plans in the escape pod." Vader reasoned. "Send a detachment down to retrieve them. See to it personally, commander. There will be no one to stop us this time."

It was mid-day on the planet below. Ren and P3-N1 were walking away from their pod, no worse for the wear, except for the sand no doubt clogging them up.

"How did we get into this mess?" Ren asked aloud. "We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life." P3-N1 whistled, I'm guessing to make him stop complaining. "I've got to rest before I fall apart, my joints are almost frozen." More whistling as they came over a rise and looked out over the landscape. "What a desolate place this is." P3-N1 whistled again and began to head off to the left. "Where are you going? Well, I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. This way is much easier." P3-N1 tootled in disagreement. "What makes you think there are settlements over there?" she tootled again. "Don't get technical with me." Whistling. "What mission? What are you talking about?" tootling and raspberries. "I've just about had enough of you. Fine, go that way. You'll be malfunctioning in a day, you near-sighted scrap-pile." He kicked her and headed off in the other direction. "And don't let me catch you following me, begging for help, because you won't get it."

P3-N1 looked ahead and back at Ren a few times before whistling loudly. Ren turned, and said, "No more adventures! I'm not going that way." P3-N1 made a few more raspberries and began rolling in the opposite direction from Ren.

Ren continued to walk across the rolling dunes for several hours. The monotony would have driven anyone else insane, but, being a droid, he simply didn't notice. The landscape was changed only by the odd rock or boulder off to the side and the appearance of a gigantic snake-like skeleton.

"That malfunctioning little twerp." Ren grumbled. "This is all her fault, she tricked me into going this way. But she'll do no better." He looked out into the distance and saw a flashing light in the dimming light of twilight. "Wait, is that... a transport!" he realized before he began jumping and waving his arms as best he could.

Miles away, P3-N1 whistled as she traveled through a canyon at sunset. She stopped when she heard movement off to the left. Rocks rolled down the sides of the canyon, but she paid it little mind. She continued down the path, oblivious of the small creatures watching her, hooded and cloaked, their eyes glowing a strange orange light.

Suddenly, one of the creatures jumped up from behind a rock and shoot her. Her body, as it was, roiled in electric discharge until she finally collapsed. Seeing that she was down for the count, the little thing beckoned its' fellows over in whatever their language was called. They gathered around P3-N1, cheering and muttering to each other, and hoisted her on their shoulders. They carried her out of the canyon and over to their transport. A large funnel descended from the side and P3-N1 was fitted with some sort of device on her side before she was sucked up into the transport. The sun finally having set, the creatures called it a day and retreated into their transport and it began to crawl away on powerful-looking treads.


	2. 2

The inside of the crawler was filled with discarded droids, parts for them and general metal debris. The droids ranged from humanoid types like Ren, to versions of P3-N1 except somewhat less streamlined, to some that simply looked like boxes with legs. They sat around languidly, as if simply waiting to go through whatever motions they had become accustomed to. This is what P3-N1 awoke to. She rolled through the innards until a familiar voice caught her attention.

"P3?" Ren said, walking up to her. "P3-N1, it is you! It is you!" They spent time trying to catch up and compare notes on what had happened since they parted ways as the crawler moved through the night.

The next day, a squad of stormtroopers- equipped with what was assumed to be desert gear- were searching the area around the crashed escape pod. A few were riding strange creatures clearly not native to Remnant. Their commander was looking through a strange set of binoculars, scanning the horizon.

"Someone was in the pod." He said, looking at the droids remaining foortprints. "The tracks go off in this direction."

One of his troopers stood up, a piece of metal in hand. "Look, sir, droids."

Inside the crawler, Ren felt their movement cease. "We've stopped. Wake up." He tapped P3 on the head. "Wake up!" he slammed his hand on her dome. the front of the crawler opened to reveal the light of day as the creatures that had taken them filed in and started ordering the droids out. Ren and P3 followed orders, though somewhat under duress. They were lined up in front a small homestead in the desert, consisting of a small clay hut and a couple large holes in the ground.

A man with scraggly black hair and a matching beard walked out of the hut, followed by a girl with red-tipped black hair. She wore light linen clothes consisting of a tunic, breeches and boots. The two met with the leader of the hooded creatures.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Qrow said. Ruby moved to follow him, but a voice from one of the holes called her.

"Ruby! Ruby!" the girl ran to the lip of the hole and looked down to see a woman standing below. She had tanned skin, short brown hair, light-blue eyes and the beginnings of crow's feet around her eyes. "If that idiot uncle of yours if he gets a translator, make sure it speaks Batchi."

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, but I'll remind him." She replied before walking back over to her uncle, who was already walking down the line of droids. He selected a red and white droid similar to P3, but passed on P3 herself before coming to stand before Ren. "You." He said, getting Ren's attention, "I suppose you're programmed for etiquette and protocol."

"Protocol? Why it's my primary function, sir." Ren said, happy to speak of anything that would keep him from being destroyed. "I am well-versed in all customs-"

"I got no need for a protocol droid." Qrow, moving to walk away before Ren stopped him.

"Of course not, sir, not in an environment such as this. That is why I have been programmed- "

"What I really need is a droid who understands the binary language of moisture vaporators."

"Vaporators? Sir, my first job was programming binary load-lifters, very similar to your vaporators in most respects."

"Can you speak Batchi?"

"Of course I can, sir. It's like a second language to me. I'm as fluent in it as- "

"Yeah, alright, shut up. I'll take him. Ruby!" The creature with Qrow motioned for Ren to move over with the red droid next to P3 as Ruby ran up to him. "Take these two over to the garage, will ya? I want them cleaned up before dinner."

"But I was gonna go to Toshi Station to pick up some power converters." She whined.

"You can waste time with your friends when your chores are done. Now, hop to it."

Ruby sighed in defeat, and motioned for the droids to follow her. P3 made to waddle after them, but froze when one of her captors pointed a remote at her and pressed a button. As Ruby and Ren were about to enter the hut, the red droid with them made a small explosion and started smoking.

"Uncle Qrow!" she called.

"Yeah?" he turned as he pulled out a money bag.

"This P3 unit has a bad motivator, look."

"What the hell kind of junk are you trying to push on us?" Qrow said to the leader, who began trying to defend himself (I'm just assuming it's a guy at this point).

"Excuse me, ma'am," Ren said, tapping Ruby's shoulder, "But that P3 unit is in prime condition, a real bargain." He indicated P3-N1.

"Uncle Qrow?"

"Yeah?"

"What about that one?" she pointed at P3.

"What about the green one? We'll take that one."

"I'm sure you'll be pleased with that one, ma'am." Ren said as a pair of the creatures came and took the red droid away, "She really is in first-class condition, I've worked with her before. Here she comes." P3 began rolling up to them, whistling happily that she wasn't being separated from her friend.

"Okay, let's go." Ruby said, leading them inside.

"Now, don't you forget this." Ren warned her. "Why I should stick my neck out for you is really beyond my capacity."

Later, Ruby and the droids were in the garage, which Ruby had converted into something of a workshop for herself. Ren was being lowered into something, while Ruby was looking for tools to use on P3.

"Thank the Maker! This oil bath is going to feel so good!" he said excitedly. "I've got such a bad case of dust contamination, I can barely move."

"It just isn't fair." Ruby complained, talking to herself. "Maybe Cinder's right. I'm never gonna get outta here."

"Is there anything I might do to help?" Ren offered.

"No, not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest or teleport me off this rock."

"I don't think so, ma'am. I'm only a droid, and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I'm on."

"Well, if there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet it's farthest from." Ruby said with a grunt as she worked on P3.

"I see, miss."

"Well, you can call me Ruby."

"I see, Ms. Ruby." Ren corrected himself.

Ruby chuckled. "No, no, just Ruby."

"Oh." Ren was lifted out of the oil bath, allow the liquid to drip off his body. "And I am L-1RN, human-cyborg relations, and this is my counterpart, P3-N1."

"Well, those names won't do. Let's see." She thought hard for a few moments as she cleaned P3, "I'll call you Ren, and you will be Penny. I'll tell ya, Penny," she grunted as she tried to clean one of the panels on her dome, "You got a lot of carbon scoring here, looks like you two have seen a lot of action."

"With all we've been through, I'm surprised we're in as good condition we are, what with the rebellion and all."

That caught Ruby's attention. "You know of the rebellion against the Empire?" she asked, her silver eyes practically glowing with excitement.

"That's how we came to be in your service, if you take my meaning, miss." Ren explained.

"Have you been in many battles?"

"Several, I think. Actually, there's not much to tell. I'm merely an interpreter and not much good at telling stories." Ruby slumped at hearing this, and sat down to continue cleaning Penny. "Well, not at making them interesting, anyway."

Ruby had taken a pair of pliers and was trying to extricate something from between two of Penny's plates on her side. "Well, my little friend, you got something jammed in here pretty good. Were you two in a star cruiser or- "Ruby fell backwards as the metal finally came free. As she did, Penny's projector activated and a holographic image of Weiss appeared.

"Help me, Taiyang Xiao Long, you're my only hope." She said before the image fritzed and repeated itself.

"What's this?" Ruby said, collecting herself. Penny whistled in response.

"What's what?" Ren translated, a little miffed, "What is that?" he indicated the holo-projection. Penny whistled again. "Oh, she says it's nothing ma'am. Merely a malfunction, old data. Pay it no mind."

"Who is she?" Ruby said, sitting up and crossing her legs. "She's beautiful."

"I'm afraid I'm not quite sure. I think she was a passenger on our last voyage, a person of some importance, I believe. Our captain was attached to- "

"Is there any more to this recording?" Ruby interrupted him. Penny answered with more whistling.

"Behave yourself, P3, you're going to get us into trouble. It's okay, you can trust her. She's our new mistress." More whistling. "She's says that she is the property of a Taiyang Xiao Long, a resident of these parts and that it's a private message for him. Quite frankly, ma'am, I don't know what she's talking about. Our last master was Captain Seiben, but with all we've been through, this little P3 unit has become quite eccentric." Penny apparently took offense to that and raspberried at him.

"Taiyang Xiao Long..." Ruby said, thinking aloud, "I wonder if she means Old Ben Long?"

"Excuse me, ma'am, but do you know what she's talking about?"

"Well, I don't know anyone named Taiyang," Ruby said as she stood and walked over to her toolbox, "But Old Ben lives out beyond the Dune Sea. Kind of a strange old hermit." She looked back to the repeating message, "I wonder who she is? Sounds like she's in trouble. I better play back the whole thing." She grabbed a few choice tools and approached Penny in a crouch. Before she could use the tools, Penny whistled at her.

"She says that the restraining bolt has short-circuited her recording system." Ren translated. "She suggests that if you remove the bolt, she could playback the whole recording."

Ruby considered this. "Alright," she shrugged and grabbed a small pry bar from her toolbox, "I guess you're too small to run away if I take this off." She worked it off and the holoimage faded as soon as it came off. "What the hell? Bring her back, playback the entire message." Ruby ordered.

Penny whistled innocently. "What message?" Ren asked, smacking her upside her dome, "The one you've just been playing! The one you're carrying around in your rusty innards."

"Ruby!" Vernal called from outside.

"Be right there, Aunt Vernal!" Ruby called back.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but she appears to have picked up a slight flutter." Ren said.

"Here," she handed her tools to Ren, "See what you can do with her, I'll be right back."

Penny whistled in concern. "Just you reconsider playing that message for her." Beeping. "No, I don't think she likes you at all." A worried whistle. "No, I don't like you either." Ren turned his back to her.

Ruby walked into the dining room to see her Uncle Qrow already digging in to the meal Vernal had made. She thanked her Aunt and took a seat at the small table.

"You know, I think that P3 unit we bought might have been stolen." She said.

"What makes you say that?" Qrow said.

"I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning her. She says she belongs to someone called Taiyang Xiao Long." Vernal and Qrow shared a glance at the mention of the name. "I thought she might have meant Old Ben. You know what she's talking about?"

"Mm-mm." Qrow denied.

"Wonder if he's related to Ben."

"That wizard's just a crazy old man." Qrow said firmly, "And tomorrow, I want you to take that P3 unit down to Anchorhead and have its memory erased, and that'll be the end of it. It belongs to us now."

"But what if this 'Taiyang' comes looking for her?" Ruby asked, pouring herself a glass of milk.

"He won't." Qrow assured her. "I don't think he exists anymore. He died about the same time as your mother."

"He knew my mother?" Ruby asked, hope in her eyes.

"I told you to forget it." Qrow warned. "Your only concern is to prepare those two for tomorrow. In the morning, I want them up on the south ridge working on those condensors."

"Yes, sir." Ruby grumbled, poking at her food. "I think those new droids are gonna work out fine." She said abruptly, her voice suddenly sounding more confident. "In fact, I, uh, I was also thinking about our agreement. About me staying on another season?" Qrow looked up. "And if these new droids do work out, I want to transmit my application to the Academy this year."

"You mean the next semester before the harvest?" Qrow was surprised and a little shocked at this.

"Sure, there's more than enough droids."

"Harvest is when I need you the most!" Ruby looked down, knowing exactly where this was going. "It's only one season more. This year, we'll make enough on the harvest that I'll be able to hire some more hands, and then you can go to the Academy next year. You gotta know that I need you here, Ruby."

"But it's a whole 'nother year!" she complained.

"Look, it's only one more season." Qrow tried to calm her, but she was having none of it.

"Yeah, that's what you said when Cinder and Neo left." She stood and made to leave.

"Where are you going?" Vernal asked.

"Looks like I'm going nowhere." Ruby said scornfully as she walked out.

Vernal turned to Qrow, who was now holding his head in his hands. "Okay, Bird-boy, what the hell?" she said, "You know how much this means to her, especially since all her friends have already gone."

"I know, I know. But we need her here for now."

"Ruby's just not a farmer, Qrow. She's got too much of her mother in her."

Qrow turned to see Ruby walk out of the compound. "Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."


	3. 3

After her little dramatic moment watching the sunset on the lip of the housing complex, Ruby made her way back to the garage to finish working on Ren and Penny. However, when she entered, it was to find the room empty of the two newcomers. Confused, she pulled out a remote similar to the one the sellers had used on Penny and pushed a button.

"Oh!" Ren said in surprise, jumping at the sudden shock.

"What are you doing hiding back there?" she asked as if to a guilty child.

"It wasn't my fault, ma'am, please don't deactivate me." He pleaded. "I told her not to go, but she's faulty. Malfunctioning. Kept going on about her mission."

"Dammit." Ruby cursed and ran from the room, Ren following behind. She ran back out topside and searched the horizon with another pair of strange binoculars.

"That P3 unit has always been a problem." Ren said, walking up beside her. "These astro droids are getting a bit out of hand. Even I can't understand their logic at times."

"How could I be so stupid?" Ruby said as she put the macrobinoculars down, "She's nowhere in sight. Dammit!"

"Excuse me, ma'am, but couldn't we go after her?"

"It's too dangerous with all the sand people around. We'll have to wait until morning."

"Rubes!" Qrow called from within the house, "I shutting the power down!"

"Alright! I'll be right there!" she called back before groaning. "Boy am I gonna get it. You know, that droid is gonna cause me nothing but trouble. I can already tell."

"Oh, she excels at that, ma'am."

The next day, Qrow awoke to find Vernal making breakfast and Ruby nowhere to be found.

"Hey, you seen Ruby yet today?" He asked his wife.

"Yeah, said she had some things to do, so she left early." She said as she worked on some eggs and bacon.

"She take those new droids with her?" he asked, taking a strip of already cooked bacon.

"Dunno." Vernal said with a playful slap to the hand that held the bacon.

Qrow sighed and bit off a chuck of the meat. "Well, she better have those units in the south range repaired by mid-day or there'll be hell to pay."

Instead, Ruby and Ren were zooming across the desert in a land speeder.

"Look, there's a droid on the scanner, dead ahead." She pointed at the screen. "Could be our little P3 unit, hit the accelerator."

As she moved through a canyon, a creature wrapped head to toe in cloth took aim at her with a sniper rifle. It was stopped by one of its' kin. They exchanged a series of grunts and growls before the second pulled the first back to their massive, shaggy, ram-horned mounts and they moved out as one.

Ruby stopped the speeder a few feet away from Penny, who was waddling over some rocks.

"Hey, hey, where do you think you're going?" she said. Penny whistled in response.

"Mistress Ruby is your mistress now!" Ren scolded "We don't want to hear anymore of this Taiyang Xiao Long gibberish!" More whistling. "And don't talk to me about your mission. You're lucky she doesn't blast you into a million pieces on the spot."

As Ruby assured him there was no call for that, Penny whistled again, with something akin to fear in the tone. "What's she saying?"

"There are several creatures approaching from the south-east." Ren said, fear in his voice.

"Sand People. Or worse." Ruby growled. She ran to her speeder and pulled out sniper rifle. "Come on, let's check it out."

A few minutes later, Ruby had taken a vantage point on the lip of the canyon and was looking at a possible campsite below her, Ren standing behind her. "Well, there are a couple banthas down there, but I don't think- wait a minute..." a humanoid figure walked into view from behind a bantha, "They're Sand People alright, I can see one of them now."

Her vision went dark and she looked up to see a Sand Person in front of her. It howled a war cry, shaking a bent club over its' head. Ren screamed and fell backwards. Ruby tried to bring her gun to bear, but her assailant batted it away and struck her in the middle of the chest, throwing her on her back. It tried to bash her head in multiple times, but Ruby dodged each time.

The scene cut to a cave nearby the abandoned speeder, the war cries of the Sand People echoing off the walls of the canyon. Penny watched as the Sand People dragged an unconscious Ruby back to it and began to ransack it. Penny whistled a few times, trying to wake Ruby up to no avail.

Suddenly, a haunting noise echoed off the walls. The Sand People turned to see a robed figure walking towards them, waving his arms about. The sound more than the source terrified the Sand People and they beat a hasty retreat, dropping everything except their stick-maces.

Penny watched as the robed figure knelt beside Ruby and checked her pulse. He looked up at her and lowered his hood, revealing a much older version of Taiyang. His face retained its tan and friendly features, but his sandy blonde hair and dark scraggly facial hair had gone grey.

"Hello there." He said to Penny. "Come here, my little friend. No need to fear." Penny whistled, looking at Ruby. "Oh, don't worry, she'll be alright." As if on cue, Ruby began to stir and opened her eyes. "Easy there, kid. You've had a busy day." Tai said as he helped Ruby into a sitting position. "You're fortunate to be all in one piece."

Ruby shook the cobwebs loose and got a better look at him. "Ben? Ben Long? Man, am I glad to see you."

"The Jundland Wastes are not to be travelled lightly." Tai told her, as he stood and helped her to her feet and sat her down on a nearby rock. "So, Little Rose, tell me; what brings you out this far?"

"This little droid." She said, pointing to Penny. "I think she's searching for her former master, but I've never seen such devotion in a droid before. She claims to be the property of a Taiyang Xiao Long." At the name, Tai's eyes widened and he took a seat of his own. "Is he a relative of yours? Do you know him?"

"Taiyang Xiao Long?" he said, almost in shock. "Taiyang... now that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

"I think my uncle knows him. He said he was dead."

"Oh, he's not dead. Well, not yet, anyway."

"You know him?"

"Well, I should think so. He's me. I haven't gone by the name of Taiyang since before you were born."

"Well, then I guess Penny does belong to you."

"Can't seem to recall ever owning a droid before." He said, scratching his chin. The droid's coloring did seem somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite- his musing was cut off by the howling of Sand People echoing off the walls of the canyon. "We'd best get going. These Sand People are easily startled, but they will come back, and in greater numbers.

Penny whistled as the two moved towards Ruby's speeder. "Ren!" Ruby said, running back to her less-than-stellar hide. There, the two found the droid laying on his back, his left arm severed and lying a few feet away.

"Where are we?" Ren said, "I must have taken a bad step."

"Can you stand? We gotta get out of here before the Sand People come back." Ruby asked him.

"I don't think I can make it. You go on, Mistress Ruby. There's no sense in you risking yourself on my account, I'm done for."

"What the hell kind of talk is that?"

"Quickly," Taiyang urged, grabbing Ren under his arms, "They're on the move." Together, he and Ruby lifted Ren to his feet and made their way to Tai's place beyond the desert.

Once there, they settled in and began chatting while Ruby fixed up Ren, cleaning him up and reattaching his arm. Somehow, they managed to get on the topic of Ruby's mother.

"Nah, my mom didn't fight in the wars." Ruby laughed off Tai's statements as she tightened some bolts on Ren's shoulder, "She was a navigator on a spice freighter."

"That's what your uncle told you." Tai said. It was a statement, not a question, so Ruby knew he could read her somehow. "He didn't hold your mother's ideals, thought she should have stayed here and not gotten involved."

"Are you saying you fought in the Clone Wars?" Ruby asked.

"Yes." Tai chuckled, "I was once a Jedi Knight the same as your mother." He leaned back and stroked his chin pensively.

"I wish I had known her." Ruby said sadly.

"She was the best starpilot in the galaxy, and a cunning warrior. I understand you've become quite a good pilot yourself." Tai said making Ruby stutter bashfully. "And she was a good friend. Which reminds me, I have something here for you." He stood up and walked over to a chest on the wall. "Your mother wanted you to have this when you were old enough, but your uncle would never allow it." he rummaged through the chest and pulled out a short metal tube. "He was afraid you might follow Old Taiyang on some damn fool idealistic crusade like your mother did."

"Ma'am, if you'll not be needing me, I'll close down for a while." Ren said to Ruby. When she given him the go ahead, he leaned forward, his eyes stopped glowing and he simply sat there like a statue.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, taking the proffered tube. It was heavier than she'd expected, and assumed there were some internal workings to it.

"Your mother's lightsaber. This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight." Tai explained. Ruby pressed a button on the side and a two and a half foot beam of light burst from the tip. It hummed with every movement she made.

"Not as random or clumsy as blaster. An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations the Jedi were protectors of peace and justice in the Old Republic." He sat back down. "Before the dark times. Before the Empire."

The lightsaber hissed when Ruby deactivated it. She held the weapon in her hand, amazed by the technology. Then a question entered her mind. "How did my mother die?" she asked, sitting down next to Taiyang.

Tai took a breath before answering. "A young Jedi by the name of Darth Vader- who was a pupil of mine until she turned to evil- helped the Empire hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. She betrayed and murdered your mother. Now, the Jedi are all but extinct."

"Vader was seduced by the Dark Side of the Force."

"The Force?" Ruby asked, confused.

Tai smiled, happy to move away from so dark a topic. "The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together."

Penny whistled, interrupting the conversation. "Now, my little friend, let's see if we can't figure out what you are and where you come from."

"I saw a part of a message she was carrying- " Ruby said.

"I seem to have found it." Tai said. Sure enough, Ruby turned around and saw the same holo-message from before being projected in front of Taiyang.

"General Xiao Long," The image of Weiss said with a bow, "Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to aid him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret I am unable to bring you this message in person, but my ship had fallen under attack and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Atlas has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the rebellion into the memory systems of this P3 unit. My father will know how to retrieve it. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Atlas. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Taiyang Xiao Long, you're my only hope." The image faded away and Taiyang sat back, deep in thought. He looked to Ruby.

"You must learn the ways of the Force, if you're to come with me to Atlas." He said with a small smile.

"Atlas?" Ruby said incredulously and then laughed lightly, "I'm not going to Atlas. I've gotta get home. It's late, I'm in for it as it is!"

"I need your help, Ruby. She needs your help." Tai pleaded, "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

Ruby knew he was right, and she wanted to help, but her ingrained sense of duty was overriding everything else. "I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but there's nothing I can do about it right now. Besides, it's such a long way from here."

"That's your uncle talking." Taiyang said matter-of-factly.

"My uncle. Man, how am I gonna explain this?"

"Learn about the Force, Ruby." Tai pressed.

Ruby sighed, considering her reasonable options, the ones that both duty and her conscious allowed. "Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you're going."

"You must do what you think is right, of course."


	4. 4

In the void of space, a star destroyer made its way to a massive grey orb, covered in trenches and metal plates, with a large circular indentation in the upper half.

Within it, a group of men sat in a guarded meeting room. Most of them were old and grey, while a few others were several years younger. They were all of them clearly military and the middle of a heated discussion.

"Until this battle station is fully operational, we are vulnerable." One of the younger officers professed. "The Rebel Alliance is too well-equipped. They're more dangerous than you realize."

One of his colleagues smiled, apparently finding his concern amusing. "Dangerous to your starfleet, commander. Not to this battle station." He said smugly.

The commander inhaled, trying to control his temper. "The Rebellion will continue to gain support in the Imperial Senate, until- "

"The Imperial Senate will no longer be of any concern to us." A feminine voice said. A short female faunus with dark skin and hair and wearing a black army uniform walked into the room, followed closely by Darth Vader.

Sienna took a seat in the only open spot at the table. "I have just received word that the Empress has dissolved the council permanently. The last vestiges of the Old Republic have been swept away."

"That's impossible." The first officer said, "How will the Empress maintain control without the bureaucracy?"

"The regional governors now have direct control over their territories." She explained, looking at each man in turn, "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station."

"And what of the Rebellion?" The first officer asked. "If the rebels have obtained a complete technical read-out of this station, it is possible- however unlikely- that they might find a weakness, and exploit it."

Sienna took his concerns more seriously than the other officer, or at least appeared to. Thankfully for her, Vader stepped in.

"The plans you are referring to will soon be back in our hands." She assured them.

"Any attack made by the rebels against this station would be a useless gesture, no matter what technical data they've obtained!" the other officer said, losing his patience with this pointless conversation about an impossible scenario. "This station is now the ultimate power in the universe. I suggest we use it."

"Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." Vader said, turning to face the man. "The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force."

"Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lady Vader." The man looked up at her with a sneer. "Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not help you conjour up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebel's hidden fort- " he suddenly cut off and began to choke. Vader stood beside him, holding up a hand and pinching the air with her thumb and first two fingers.

She leaned into him. "I find your lack of faith disturbing." You could almost feel the smug smile forming on her face under the mask.

"Enough of this!" Sienna ordered, "Vader, release him!"

"As you wish." As she walked off, the man fell forward on the table and gasped for air, his body greedily taking in the life-sustaining gas.

"This bickering is pointless." She stared at everyone, daring them to challenge her. "Now, Lady Vader will provide us with the location of the rebel fortress by the time this station is operational. We will then crush the Rebellion with one swift stroke."

Back on the Desert Planet, Tai, Ruby and the droids beheld nothing short of a slaughter. The bodies of the creatures who found Ren and Penny were scattered about the ground, which was burned and scarred. Craters dotted the earth and chucks of metal were strewn about. Ruby and Tai walked among the bodies, trying to determine the cause, while Ren and Penny stayed off to the side.

"It looks like the Sand People, alright." Ruby said, "Look, there's ghaffi sticks, bantha tracks. I've just never heard of them hitting something this big before." She jammed the stick she was holding into the ground.

"They didn't." Tai said, "But we were meant to think they did. These track are side-by-side. Sand People always travel single file to hide their numbers."

"These are the same Jawas that sold us Penny and Ren." Ruby said.

Tai took her shoulder, and pointed at the sand crawler. "And these blast points, far too accurate for Sand People. Only Imperial stormtroopers are so precise."

"But why would Imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?" Ruby looked up at Ren and Penny, standing near her speeder, and the pieces started to fit. "If they traced them here, They may have learned who they sold them to and that would lead them back... home." Ruby took of for her speeder before Tai could stop her. She jumped in and took off at full throttle.

She blazed over the desert, making a beeline for home. She slowed as she approached her home, her stomach dropping when she saw the smoke rising from within.

"Uncle Qrow! Aunt Vernal!" she called, hoping against hope that they yet still lived. She fell silent at the site of the charred corpses at the entrance, one male and one female. A tear fell down one cheek as she the reality sunk in. She was alone in the world. Her only family lay dead before her, her home in ruins. She looked down and away, trying to hold back the tears. Soon her grief turned to anger, and as she looked up, those silver eyes were filled with fierce determination.

As she walked back to her speeder, she knew what she had to do next.

A trio of TIE Fighters flew a patrol pattern near the Death Star as it hung in space. Inside, a pair of guards led Vader down a hallway with doors on either side of them: a cellblock. One of the guards opened the door, revealing Weiss sitting on the far end of the cell. Vader stepped inside.

"And now, your Highness, we will discuss the location of your hidden rebel base." She said, standing aside as a black floating orb entered the cell. It held a needle filled with a clear liquid and Weiss shied away, knowing what was to come.

Unfortunately, we will never know the specifics as the door closed and all we got was a guard walking down the cellblock. Fucking cock-tease.

Ruby pulled up to the wrecked sand-crawler, where Ren and Penny were stacking the dead Jawas on a funeral pyre. Tai saw the expression on her face, and knew what had happened from that alone. He walked up to her, to offer what solace he could.

"There's nothing you could have done Ruby." He told her, somewhat surprised that she wasn't crying. "You'd have been killed too. And the droids would now be in the hands of the Empire."

She looked up at him. "I want to come with you to Atlas." She said calmly, "There's nothing left for me here. I want to learn the ways of the Force, and become a Jedi like my mother."

Tai simply took her shoulder, the fact that he was getting his way overshadowed by the reality of Ruby's situation. After the last of the Jawas was put to rest, everyone piled into the speeder and they took off. A few hours later, they sat on a ridge overlooking a bustling metropolis in the middle of the desert.

"Mos Eisley Space Port." Taiyang said, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious."

The town itself was madness. Droids were everywhere, doing all the heavy lifting in the sun, while the meatbags toiled in the shade, acting as merchants and laborers. Speeders filled the streets, and low-level aircraft buzzed overhead. One individual on a speeder biker almost crashed into some kind of brachiosaur animal carrying a pair of Jawas, but swerved at the last minute. The animal reared back, throwing one Jawa off, while the other held on for dear life as he hung from the reins.

As they approached the center of town, they were stopped by a team of stormtroopers. Ruby complied, not wanting to cause any trouble, and the leader of the troopers approached her.

"This can't end well." Weiss said.

"How long have you had these droids?" he asked.

"Three, four seasons." She lied.

"They're up for sale if you want them." Tai added.

"Let me see your identification." He ordered.

"You don't need to see her identification." Taiyang said with a small grin, making a small gesture with his hands.

"We don't need to see her identifications." The trooper said to his men.

"These aren't the droids you're looking for."

"These aren't the droids we're looking for."

"She can go about her business."

"You can go about your business."

"Move along."

"Move along." He waved them forward, his squad backing up from the speeder. "Move along." Ruby happily complied and didn't speak again until they stopped outside a collection of stone buildings.

"I don't get how we got past those troops, I thought we were dead." She said, shooing a Jawa away from her speeder.

"The Force can have a strong influence on the weak-minded." Tai said, expecting that to count as an explanation.

Accepting that that was the best she was likely to get, she looked at the building they were headed to. "So, do you really we're gonna find a pilot here who can take us to Atlas?"

"Well, most of the best freighter pilots can be found here. But, watch your step. This place can get a bit rough."

"I'm ready for anything." Ruby said, patting the lightsaber hanging from her belt.

They walked in on a bustling cantina, filled to the gills with people, though only a few were actually human. The vast majority were aliens, no better way to put it. Vast majority of the patrons were leaning against the bar, drinking and smoking, while more filled the tables lining the walls.

Ruby entered with Ren and Penny close by only to be stopped by the bartender.

"Hey! We don't serve their kind here." He said.

"What?" Ruby said, confused.

"Your droids! They'll have to wait outside, we don't want them here."

"Why don't you wait by the speeder? We don't want any trouble." She said to Ren.

"I whole-heartedly agree, ma'am." He said, walking back up the stairs and leading Penny outside. Ruby meanwhile, walked up to the bar, taking a spot between Taiyang and a pair of twins with black hair, though one had shorter hair than the other, and wearing matching outfits in red and white respectively. She caught the bartender's attention and asked for whatever Tai was drinking.

She looked around the room, just innocently people-watching when she was forcefully turned to face the twin in red who spoke at her in a language she didn't understand. Not knowing what had just happened, she let it go and turned back to her drink. No sooner had it touched her lips than she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see it was the longer-haired twin in white.

"She doesn't like you." She said, pointing to her sneering sister.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said, trying desperately to make herself invisible.

The white twin made her look at her. "I don't like you either. You better watch yourself. We're wanted women. I have the death sentence in twelve systems."

"I'll be careful." She said, wishing they would go away.

"You'll be dead!"

"This little one isn't worth your time." Taiyang said, intervening on Ruby's behalf. "Now, let me buy you a drink."

With a roar, the white twin shoved Ruby to the side, throwing her into a table. Tai went for his lightsaber, while Melanie went for a blaster. Tai managed to parry the first shot and reversed into a slash, the blue blade cutting off Melanie's arm above the elbow and cauterizing the wound to prevent blood loss. Calmly, he returned to a standing position, daring anyone to try something, anything. When nobody did, he deactivated his saber. The other patrons returned to their business, the music resumed and Tai helped Ruby to her feet.

"Thanks." She said with a grunt.

"Hurry, I think I've found a ship that might suit us." He urged.


	5. 5

Outside, Ren and Penny were waiting by the speeder. A squad of stormtroopers had arrived nearby and were talking to some locals. Neither could quite figure out what they were talking about, but the pointing didn't seem good.

"I don't like the look of this." Ren said to his counterpart, who whistled in agreement.

Back inside, Tai and Ruby sat down at a table across from a pair of young women. One was fair-skinned with long black hair and matching cat ears on her head, while the other was slightly tanned, and had long blonde hair and laughing lilac eyes.

"Yang Xiao Long, I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon." She introduced herself as she sat down. Ruby's eyes widened and she looked between Yang and Tai. There weren't any physical similarities, as far as she could tell. Yang was blonde with lilac eyes, while Taiyang had light blue eyes and was grey, bordering on white. This, combined with the fact that Tai had to have at least 40 years on her, made Ruby conclude the name was merely a weird coincidence. "Blake here tells me you're looking for passage to the Atlas system."

"That's right, if it's a fast ship." Tai said.

"A fast ship? You've never heard of the Millennium Falcon?"

"Should I have?"

"It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs." Seeing their looks of disbelief, she got a little irritated.

"I've outrun Imperial star ships. And not the local bulk transports, I'm talking the big Correllian ones, ya hear? She's fast enough for you, old man. What's the cargo?"

"Just passengers. Myself, the girl, two droids, and no questions asked."

Yang chuckled at that. "What is it? Some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say we'd rather avoid any Imperial entanglements."

"Well, that's the real trick isn't it?" Yang said, leaning back, "And it's gonna cost you something extra. 10,000. All in advance."

"10,000?" Ruby said in disbelief, "We could almost buy our ship with that."

"And who's gonna fly it, kid? You?" Yang teased.

"You bet I could! I'm not such a bad pilot myself. Let's get- " she began to stand up to leave, but Tai pulled her gently back down into her seat.

He turned back to Yang with a smile. "We can pay you 2,000 now, plus 15 when we reach Atlas." He offered.

"17?" Yang had a hard time believing the old man really had that kind of money on him. When he nodded back, she began to grin. "Alright, you got a deal. We'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay 94."

"94." Tai said, to make sure he would remember.

Yang looked across the room. "Looks like someone's taken an interest in your handiwork." She nodded in the direction of a pair of stormtroopers who were talking to Junior. As they passed the table, Tai and Ruby were gone, with only Yang and Blake sitting there staring at them.

Once they had passed them by, Yang's smile returned. "17,000! Man, those guys must really be desperate. This could really save our necks here."

"Our necks?" Blake said with an arched eyebrow.

"Fine, fine, my neck. Just get back to the ship and get her ready." As Yang was about to leave the table, a green alien with spikes in place of hair came up and placed the barrel of a gun against her chest.

"Going somewhere, Xiao Long?" he said in his native tongue.

"Yes, Greedo, as a matter of fact, I was just about to go see your boss. Tell Roman I've got his money." Yang kept backing up until she was seated again.

"It's too late. You should have paid him when you had the chance." Greedo replied, taking a seat across from her, the gun still pointed center of mass. "Roman's put a price on your head so large every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you. I'm lucky I found you first."

"Yeah, but this time, I've got the money." She assured him, calmly putting her legs on the table.

"If you give it to me, I might forget I found you."

"I don' have it with me, tell Roman- "

Roman's through with you!" Greedo said, "He has no time for smugglers who drop their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser."

"Even I get boarded sometimes. Ya think I had a choice?" she threw back. Unbeknownst to Greedo, she had calmly and quietly drawn the blaster pistol on her hip and had it aimed at his chest.

"Tell that to Roman. He may only take your ship."

Yang's entire expression darkened at that. "Over my dead body."

"That's the idea. I've been looking forward to this for a long time."

"Yeah, I'll bet you have!" a second and the sound of blaster fire later, Greedo lay facedown on the table, his body smoking from the hole the blaster left in him. Yang was none the worse for wear and casually stood up. She tossed a coin to Junior. "Sorry about the mess." She said as she walked out.

On the Death Star, Vader was giving Sienna her report regarding the princess's interrogation.

"Her resistance to the mind probe is considerable." She said, pacing, "It will be some time before we can extract any information from her."

"The final check-up is complete." An officer reported to Sienna, "All systems are operational. What course shall we set?"

"Perhaps she would respond to an alternative form of persuasion." Sienna posited.

"What do you mean?" Vader asked.

"I think it is time we demonstrated the full power of this battle station. Set your course for Atlas." She ordered.

"With pleasure." The officer said with an audible grin.

Back on the sand ball, Ren and Penny were busy dodging patrols. Currently, they were hiding in the entrance to a hab-unit.

"Lock the door, P3." Ren said. Penny complied and a metal door swung closed in front of Ren. A unit of stormtroopers came up, armed to the teeth.

"Alright, check this side of the street." The leader ordered. He knocked on the door the droids were hiding behind a few times. "Doors locked. Move on to the next one." He ordered.

When they were sure the troopers had walked off, Penny opened the door.

"I would much rather have gone with Mistress Ruby than stay here with you." He said to Penny. "I don't know what all this trouble is about, but I'm sure it's your fault." Penny blurped at him. "You watch your language!" He scolded as she closed the door again.

In the town market, Ruby and Tai were finishing up negotiations for the price of her speeder.

"Alright, gimme it." she sighed. She handed the merchant the keys to the speeder and he handed over the money. "Look at this. Ever since the XP-38 came out they just haven't been in demand."

"It'll be enough. I'm just sorry you had to sell your speeder." Tai said

"Ah, it's alright. I'm never coming back to this planet again."

As they made their way to the docking bay, they had no idea that they were being followed by a blue alien with a long, trunk-like snout wearing a black hooded robe.

A large slug-like creature with dark-orange coloring stood outside of a large spaceship, with several armed guards in red and black as back-up.

"Xiao Long! Get your blonde ass out here now!" he yelled.

"I'm right here, Roman." She said, standing behind him. "Been waiting for ya."

"Have you now?" he chortled.

"You didn't think I was gonna run, did ya?" she said with a cocky grin as she approached him.

"You? Never. Not your style. But apparently, killing my men and missing payments is." Roman said as he shuffled to meet her.

"Look, Roman, next time you wanna talk to me, do it yourself. Don't send one of these twerps."

"Now, now, you know I can't make exceptions like that. If every smuggler who worked for me dropped their cargo at the first sign of an Imperial ship, nothing would ever get around. It's just bad for business."

"Look, Roman, even I get boarded sometimes." She walked around behind him, stepping on his tail as she did. "You think I had a choice? But I got a nice easy charter now. I can pay you back everything I owe, plus a little extra~, I just need enough time to hop over to Atlas and back."

"Yang, you're the best smuggler around, so for an extra twenty percent- "

"Fifteen, Roman. Don't push it."

"Alright, fifteen. However, fail again, and you'll have a price on your head so big your own mother would turn you in."

"Roman, you're a wonderful human being." Yang said as she walked up the ramp into the ship.

"If the ship's as fast as his boasting," Tai said as they turned into the hangar, "We ought to make good time."

They were greeted by Blake, and led inside. The alien following them pulled out a communicator and said something into it. His language barely even sounded like a language, just a bunch of weird electronic noises.

Entering the hangar proper, Ruby and Tai got their first looks at the ship that would take them to Atlas. It was big, sure, but not exactly impressive. It was shaped like a massive tear drop with two tips and a cockpit sticking out of one side, and it was colored a mixture of tan and grey.

"What a piece of junk!" Ruby said.

"She'll make point-five past light speed." Yang said, looking up from her work. "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. Not to mention, I've made a few special modifications myself. However, we're on a bit of a timetable, so, if you don't mind?..." she gestured to the boarding ramp, ignoring the droid who greeted her.

A platoon of stormtroopers walked through the spaceport single file until the robed alien ran up to them.

"Which way?" The leader asked. The spy said something in his weird language and pointed towards the Falcon's hangar. "Got it. Load your weapons, men." They filed into the hangar and spread out in the entrance, creating a firing line. Yang's eyes widened and her hand fell to her blaster. "Stop that ship! Blast 'em!"

Yang returned fire, quickly making her way to and up the boarding ramp. "Blake, get us out of here!"

The Falcon slowly lifted into the air and fired it's sublight engines, taking it out of the spaceport at speeds that were nowhere near legal.

"Radar's picking up some bogeys." Blake said.

Yang looked herself. "Looks like an Imperial cruiser. Our guests must be hotter than I thought." she stood up and began working on the switches behind her chair. "Try and hold 'em off. Angle the deflector shields while I make the calculations for the jump to light speed."

In the void, a pair of star destroyers began to gain on the ship.

"Stay sharp, there's two more." Yang said, getting back into her seat. "They're gonna try and cut us off."

"Why don't you outrun them?" Ruby said snidely as she and Tai entered the cockpit. "I thought you said this thing was fast."

"Watch your mouth, kid, or you're gonna find yourself floating home." Yang warned, her eyes turning red for a moment. "We'll be safe enough once we make the jump to hyperspace. Besides, I know a few maneuvers. We'll lose 'em easy enough."

"How long before you can make the jump to light speed?" Tai asked as the ship was rocked by fire from their pursuers.

"It'll take a moment to get the coordinates from the navicomputer-"

"Are you kidding? At the rate their gaining?" Ruby said impatiently.

"Traveling through hyperspace ain't like dusting crops, girl." Yang said annoyed, "Without precise calculations, we'd fly right through a star, or bounce too close to a supernova, and that'd end your trip real quick, wouldn't it?"

"What's that flashing?" Ruby said, pointing at an indicator.

Yang slapped her hand away. "We're losing the deflector shields. Go strap yourselves in, I'm gonna make the jump to hyperspace."

"Coordinates locked." Blake reported. Yang reached forth and pulled on a lever. The Falcon seemed to hang in space for a moment. Suddenly, the stars began to elongate and the Falcon shot forward, disappearing into the void.


	6. 6

The Death Star entered orbit over a world of blue seas and landmasses covered in green plains and white tundras. Escorted by Vader, Weiss was brought aboard the bridge and led before Sienna.

"Governor Khan," she said, "I should have known you'd be holding Vader's leash. I recognized your foul stench when I was brought on board."

"Charming, to the last." Sienna smiled. "You have no idea how difficult is was for me to sign the order to terminate your life."

"I'm surprised you had the courage to do it yourself."

"Princess Weiss, before your execution, I would like you to be my guest at a ceremony that will make this battle station operational. No star system will dare oppose the Empire now."

"The more you tighten your grasp, the more systems will slip through your fingers." Weiss taunted.

"Not after we demonstrate the power of this station." She fired back. "In a way, you have determined the first system to be destroyed. Since you have refused to cooperate with us and tell us where the rebel base is, I have decided to test this station's destructive power on your home planet of Atlas."

Weiss' defiance melted in an instant and she began to plead with Sienna, "No! Atlas is peaceful! We have no weapons, you can't- "

"You have another target? A military target? Then name the system!" Sienna glared at her. When she didn't respond, she got up in Weiss' face. "I grow tired of asking, so it will be the last time. Where is the rebel base?"

Weiss tried to resist, but between Vader at her back, Sienna breathing down her neck and the sight of her defenseless home world, she folded. "Dantooine." She sighed, "They're on Dantooine."

Sienna smiled, "You see, Lady Vader, she can be reasonable." She turned to one of her subalterns. "Continue with the operation. You may fire when ready."

"What?!"

"You're far too trusting." Sienna smiled coldly, "Dantooine is too remote a target to make an effective demonstration, but don't worry. We'll deal with your rebel friends soon enough."

"NO!" Weiss tried to run to the window, but Vader held her back.

In the control room, men in black helmets pressed a series of buttons and a power down sound was heard. In a metal tunnel, two men ducked as a massive beam of green energy shot past them. Outside, eight beams met at a central point, merging into a larger beam that shot the planet before them and destroyed it in a massive explosion. It was so massive that the shock wave could be seen as a flaming halo.

On the Falcon, Taiyang grabbed his heart and sat down. Ruby, who held her lightsaber before her while an orb the size of a baseball floated in front of her, saw the obvious distress on his face and came over to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, voice full of concern, "What's wrong?"

"I just felt a great disturbance in the Force. As if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened. You'd better, get on with your exercises." He told Ruby as he hung his head.

"Welp," Yang said, clapping her hands as she came from the bridge, "You can forget about those Imperial slugs. Told you I'd outrun 'em." When nobody moved to thank her, she looked around. The Old Man was watching the Kid play with her laser-sword, blocking a pair of laser blasts the floating ball shot at her with the sword. Blake was playing a game with Pinky, while Spearmint watched. "Well, don't everybody thank me at once." She grumbled. "Anyway, we should be reaching Atlas in a few minutes."

Penny pressed a button, setting up a trap on the game she was playing with Blake. Blake saw the trap and moved one of her pieces to break it. What she didn't anticipate was the secondary trap she had walked into when Penny moved another piece to take out one of Blake's more powerful pieces.

"Fucking cheating bucket of bolts!" Blake yelled.

"What? She made a fair move. Screaming about it won't help." Ren said, trying to placate her.

"BullSHIT it was fair!"

"Bit of advice: it ain't wise to upset a Faunus." Yang warned Ren.

"But ma'am, nobody worries about upsetting a droid." Ren countered.

"That's cuz droids don't rip people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Faunus are known to do that." Blake simply smiled and put her hands behind her head.

"I see your point, ma'am. Penny, I suggest a new strategy: let the Faunus win."

Blake chuckled and stuck her tongue out at Yang.

Ruby had ignited her lightsaber again and was watching the orb floating in front of her. It was covered in small laser barrels and was constantly changing position vertically and horizontally. Occasionally, it would fire a small bolt at Ruby, which she would block with her blade. Taiyang watched her, analyzing her style and looking for faults, though the ones he did find were minor at best. There was one thing though: she was too conscious of everything.

"Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through them." He reminded her.

"You mean it controls your actions?" Ruby asked, dropping her guard a little.

"To a degree, but it also obeys your commands."

Thinking on this, Ruby missed a block and a laser bolt hit her in the thigh. It stung like a bitch, but left no mark, not even a singe in her breaches.

Yang laughed at her misfortune. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster at your side, kid." She said.

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Ruby asked, deactivating her saber.

"Kid, I've been from one side of this galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange things, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all powerful Force controlling everything." Yang said, drawing from experience, "There's no mystical energy field controls my destiny. It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense."

"I suggest you try it again, Ruby." Tai said, standing and pickup a helmet hanging on the wall. "Only this time, let go your conscious self, and act on instinct." He put the helmet on the girl's head and put down a visor in front of her face.

"Well, with the blast shield down, I can't even see! How am I supposed to fight?" she whined.

"Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them." Ruby shook her head, but followed instructions and reignited her blade. She could still hear the orb hissing as air jets allowed it to change positions. She tried to follow that, but still received a blast to her forearm. "Stretch out with your feelings." Tai urged. A little annoyed, she tried and managed to block a blast to her chest and two more to her legs in quick succession. "You see? You can do it." Tai said happily.

"I call it luck." Yang said, unconvinced.

"In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." Tai responded.

"Look, good against remotes is one thing. Good against the living? It's a whole 'nother beast." A beeping sounded next to her. "C'mon Blake, we're coming up on Atlas."

"You know, I did feel something." Ruby told Taiyang as Yang and Blake left for the bridge. "I could almost see the remote."

"That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world." Tai said with a smile.

Sienna was in her office with Vader, working through some military dispatches and a message to the Empress in regard to the status of the Death Star when a military officer entered.

"Yes?" she asked, not looking up from her work.

"Our scout ships have reached Dantooine." He reported. This caught her attention. "They found the remains of a rebel base, but they estimate it has been abandoned for some time. They are now conducting a thorough search of the surrounding systems." His report finished, he saluted her, turned around on his heel and left.

"She lied." Sienna growled. "She lied to us!"

"I told you she would never consciously betray the Rebellion's location." Vader said, trying not to sound smug.

"Terminate her! Immediately!" Sienna ordered lividly.

The Falcon screamed through hyperspace, shown as a swirling tunnel of blue and white.

"Alright Blake, cutting to sub-light engines... now." She flipped a series of switches all at once . immediately, the Falcon dropped out of hyperspace into a hail of asteroids. The ship shook with all the impacts, large or small. "What the?"

"The hell is this?" Blake said.

"Must've come out in the middle of a meteor shower or some kind of asteroid collision. Check the maps!"

"Triple checking."

"What's going?" Ruby asked as she and Taiyang came to the bridge.

"Our coordinates are correct, but no Atlas." Yang said.

"What do you mean? Where is it?"

"That's what I wanna know! All I do know is that it ain't there. Totally blown away."

"Stellar position is correct, but this asteroid field isn't on any of the charts." Blake said.

"Well then, how?" Ruby said.

"Destroyed, by the Empire." Taiyang supplied.

"The entire fleet couldn't destroy the whole planet." Yang said matter-of-factly, "It'd take a thousand starships with more firepower than I've- " a loud beeping stopped her. "There's another ship coming in on our six."

"Maybe they know what happened." Ruby said hopefully.

"It's an Imperial fighter." Tai said, as Yang flipped a few switches.

A TIE-fighter flew past them. "It followed us!" said Ruby.

"No, it's a short-range fighter." Tai said.

"There aren't any bases around here. Where'd it come from?" Yang said.

"It sure is leaving in a big hurry. If they identify us, we're in big trouble." Ruby said.

"Not if I can help it. Blake!" Yang ordered.

"Jamming their comms now." She said.

"Probably best to let it go." Tai said diplomatically, "It's too far out of range."

"Not for long." Yang said as she increased the ship's speed.

Taiyang frowned. Something about all this didn't feel right. "Fighter that size couldn't get this deep into space on its own." He said.

"Must've gotten lost." Ruby guessed, "Been part of a convoy or something."

"Well, he won't be around long enough to tell anyone about us." Yang assured them as they continued to chase it through the void.

"Look! He's headed for that small moon!" Ruby said.

"Think I can get him before he reaches it." Yang said.

"That's no moon." Tai said, his eyes widening, "It's a space station."

"It's too big to be a space station." Yang argued.

As they got closer, they saw that it's surface was too unnatural, too mathematical.

"I've got a very bad feeling about this." Ruby said.

"Turn the ship around." Tai almost ordered.

"You know, I think you've got the right idea." Yang said, "Full reverse! Blake, lock in the auxiliary power!"

"Gladly." Blake said, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end and her ears pressed flat against her head.

"Blake, lock in the auxiliary power!" she repeated when they didn't turn.

"I did, it's not enough." Blake responded through gritted teeth.

"Why are we still moving towards it?" Ruby yelled.

"Nothing we can do, we're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" Yang yelled back.

"There's gotta be something you can do!"

"There's nothing for it. I gotta shut down, but they won't get me without a fight."

"You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting." Tai counselled.


	7. 7

As the tractor beam pulled the ship into one of the docking bays, the group of four took in just how massive the Death Star was. Once the ship had landed, squads of stormtroopers surrounded the entrance ramp.

"Yes?" Sienna said into an intercom on her desk.

"We captured a freighter entering the remains of the Atlas system. It's markings match that of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley."

"They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess." Vader said. "She may yet be of use to us."

A few minutes later, Vader entered the hangar where the Falcon was being held as a team of soldiers came down the entrance ramp.

"There's no one on board, ma'am." An officer reported, "According to the log, the crew abandoned ship right after take-off. It must be a decoy, ma'am, several of the escape pods have been jettisoned."

"Did you find any droids?" Vader asked. She seemed more focused on something else.

"No, ma'am. If there were any onboard, they also must have jettisoned."

"Get a scanning crew aboard. I want every part of this ship checked." She ordered. As the officer went to comply, and another squad performed a secondary sweep, she looked about again. "I sense something, something I've not felt since..." Without another word, she walked away in a hurry.

Inside the Falcon the second sweep was finished. The whole ship was empty, not a soul or droid to be seen. As the last stormtroopers walked down the ramp, a pair of panels off to the side of the entrance came out of the floor. Under one, hid Ruby and Yang, the latter of whom had her blaster at the ready. Under the other, came Taiyang.

"Man, it's lucky you had these compartments." Ruby sighed in relief.

"I use 'em for smuggling." Yang explained, "Never thought I'd be smuggling myself in 'em." She turned to Taiyang as he rose from his compartment, "This is ridiculous. Even if I could take off, I'd never get past the tractor beam."

"Leave that to me." Tai said as he hefted himself up from the compartment.

"Crazy fool, I knew you were gonna say that."

"Who's the more foolish? The fool, or the fool who follows him?" Tai countered.

"Can we hurry this up?" Blake said, poking her head up from Yang and Ruby's compartment, "It's not exactly roomy down here."

Outside, the scanning crew, a pair of female engineers, arrived.

"The ship's clear. If the scanners pick up anything, report it immediately." One of the troopers told them. The engineer gave a perfunctory nod before helping her partner carry the equipment on board while all but the two troopers standing guard at the entrance left. Barely two seconds after the engineers got on board, a large crashing sound came from inside the Falcon. The guards looked at each other, but thought nothing of it until a female voice came from inside.

"Hey, down there! You guys mind giving us a hand here?" It said. One of the guards motioned for his buddy to come help him and the pair went up the ramp. Soon after, a series of blaster shots were heard, followed by more crashing.

In a control room overlooking the hangar, an officer tried to call the guards.

"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?" No answer. "TK-421, do you copy?" Still no answer. He went to the observation window and saw one of the guards coming out of the ship. They looked at him and pointed toward their helmet. He gave a small salute, before walking away. "We got a bad transmitter. I'll see what I can do." He said. When the door opened, he saw a trooper standing next to Blake.

"Boo!" Blake said before she and the trooper opened fire, taking out the skeleton crew in the observation room. With the room clear, Tai, the droids and one more trooper filed in. Once the last trooper shut the door behind them, they tore their helmet off, revealing it to be Ruby.

"You know, with all your blasting, I'm surprised the whole station doesn't know where we are!" she said angrily.

The other trooper, now revealed to be Yang, took off her own helmet. "Well bring 'em on! I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around anyway!"

"We found the computer outlet, ma'am." Ren reported.

"Plug in." Tai said, "It should give you access to the entire Imperial network."

A long rod came out of the side of Penny and it plugged into an outlet in the side of the computer. She whistled as she worked, while Ren interpreted.

"She says that she's found the main controls to the beam that is holding the ship here. She'll try and bring a precise map up on the monitor." A series of technical images appeared on the monitor, each with a red dot somewhere on it. "The tractor beam is couple to the main reactor in seven locations. A power loss at a single terminal will allow the ship to leave."

Taiyang bit his lip before speaking. "I don't think either of you can help me. It's best if I go alone."

"Whatever you say, Old Man." Yang said, "Gotten more than I bargained for on this trip already."

"Let me come with you." Ruby pleaded.

"Be patient, Ruby. Stay and watch over the droids." He counseled. When she tried to argue, he cut her off "They must be delivered safely, or other star systems will suffer the same fate as Atlas. Your destiny lies along a different path from mine." He opened the door, checking it was clear and looked Ruby square in the eyes. "The Force will be with you. Always."

"Well, if that isn't cryptic, I don't know what is." Blake drawled.

"You said it Blakey." Yang said, leaning against her first mate's shoulder, "Where did you dig up that old fossil?"

"Ben is a great man." Ruby said with a frown.

"Yeah, great at getting us in trouble."

"I didn't hear you give any ideas."

"Literally anything is better than waiting around for them to pick us up."

"You think- " Ruby was interrupted by excited whistling from Penny who was still plugged into the network. "What is it?"

"Honestly, ma'am, I have no idea." Ren translated, "All she says is 'I've found her' and keeps repeating 'she's here'."

"Who?"

"Princess Weiss."

"The princess? She's here?"

"Princess?" Yang asked, looking to Blake, who just shrugged.

"Where is she?" Ruby asked Penny.

"Level 5, detention block RT-13." Ren translated. Penny whistled a bit more. "I'm afraid she's scheduled to be terminated."

"What? No!" she looked to Yang, "We gotta do something!"

"What are you talking about?" she asked back.

"The droids belong to her. She's the one in the message, we gotta help her!" Ruby pleaded.

"Look, kid, don't get any funny ideas. The old man wants us to wait right here." Yang said firmly.

"He didn't know she was here! Find us a way to get there." she told Ren.

"I'm not going anywhere." Yang said, taking a seat and kicking her feet up.

"They're gonna execute her! And aren't you the one who was arguing against staying put and getting captured? Now all you want to do is stay?"

"Waltzing into the detention area is what I had in mind!"

"But they're gonna kill her!"

"Better her than me!"

Ruby looked like she was about to give up and go herself, before an idea came to mind. If Yang's morals wouldn't be swayed, maybe she just needed to use a different approach. A small smile graced her lips and she walked up behind Yang. "She's rich." She almost whispered into Yang's ears. Blake facepalmed as Yang was so easily drawn in.

A few minutes later, Ruby and Yang, dressed in full stormtrooper gear, walked down the halls of the Death Star, escorted a now handcuffed Blake. Their disguises seemed to work, so long as they kept quiet, allowing them to bypass almost all security without notice. Only Blake drew any attention, with most officers scowling at her, not even paying attention to her ears and merely considering her another prisoner.

They managed to reach an elevator without any trouble, but then Ruby's awkwardness kicked in. she couldn't stay still for long and began bouncing in place anxiously. She sighed in relief when the elevator arrived.

"I can't see a thing in this helmet." She complained to Yang.

"At least your chest piece seems to fit. These clearly weren't designed with a DD-cup in mind." Yang complained back with a grunt.

Meanwhile, Taiyang was silently following a squad of stormtroopers down a hallway, keeping a safe distance from them. Vader was also patrolling the halls, searching for whatever it was she had sensed earlier.

In the elevator, Ruby was undoing the handcuff on one of Blake's wrists in preparation for the next step of their plan.

"This is not gonna work." Yang said.

"Why didn't you say so before?" Ruby asked, annoyed.

"I did say so before."

The elevator door opened behind them and the two fake stormtroopers led their prisoner into the detention block, which was full of guards. They were stopped by an officer.

"Where are you taking this, thing?" he asked condescendingly.

"Prisoner transfer from cellblock 113-A." Ruby said.

The officer's eyes narrowed. "I wasn't informed. I'll have to clear it." He motioned for a pair of guards to take custody of Blake. Blaster pistols drawn, they approached her without thinking twice.

With a roar, Blake grabbed the nearest guard by the throat and threw him against a wall.

"Look out! She's loose!" Yang yelled, and the shooting commenced. Ruby fired in Blake's direction, but missed and took out a security camera. Slowly, the trio picked apart the guards and destroyed the security system. Cameras and control panels exploded all around, and bodies fell where they stood. Once they had finished, Yang and Ruby went to the main console.

"We gotta find out which cell this princess of yours is in." Yang said, looking at the list. She didn't know the chick's name, so she decided to look for the one with the highest security priority. It didn't take long. "Here, cell 2187. Go get her. I'll stall them." As Ruby moved off down the cell block, Yang took off her helmet, shook out her hair, and answered an alarm that was beeping. "Uh, everything's under control, situation normal."

"What happened?" a voice on the other end asked.

"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but everything's perfectly alright. We're fine. We're all fine. Here. Now. Thank you. How are you?" she physically winced at how weak that sounded.

"We're sending a squad up." The other guy said.

"Uh, uh, negative! Negative! We have a, uh, a reactor leak here now. Uh, give us a few minutes to lock it down. Uh, large leak, very dangerous."

"Who is this? What's your operating number?"

"Ah." Yang thought fast and did what she always did. Brute forced her way out. She grabbed her blaster and shot the control panel. "Lousy conversation anyway. Ruby! Hurry it up, we got company!"

Thankfully, Ruby was practically outside the target cell. She quickly opened the door and stepped in to find a sleeping Weiss stretched out in front of her. She stirred and sat up on one elbow.

"Aren't you a little short to be a stormtrooper?" she asked snidely.

"Huh?" It took Ruby's brain a while to catch up to reality, it had been too busy drinking in Weiss' beauty. She looked good in the holo, but seeing her first-hand put it all to shame. "Oh, right, yeah, the uniform." She took off her helmet. "My name is Ruby Rose, I'm here to rescue you."

"You're who?" Weiss sat up, confused.

"I'm here to rescue you. I've got your P3 unit, I'm here with Ben Long!"

That got her attention. "Ben Long? You mean Taiyang Xiao Long?! Where is he?"

"No time, come on!" Weiss took her hand and led her into the hallway.

In another part of the ship, Vader was conferring with Sienna.

"He is here." She said, completely sure of herself.

"Taiyang Xaio Long? How can you be sure?" Sienna said with a frown.

"A tremor in the Force." She explained, "The last time I felt it, was in the presence of my old master."

"But surely, he must be dead by now."

"Don't underestimate the Force." Vader warned.

"The Jedi are extinct. Their fire has gone out in the universe." A loud ding alerted Sienna to an awaiting transmission, "You, my friend are all that is left of their religion. Yes?"

"We have an emergency situation in cellblock RT-13." The voice from earlier reported.

"The princess? Put all sections on alert!"

"Taiyang is here. The Force is with him." Vader said.

"If you're right, he must not be allowed to escape."

"Escape is not his plan." Vader knew. "I must face him, alone."

In the cellblock, Blake heard the descending elevator before Yang did.

"Yang! Violence imminent!" she yelled as she took up a defensive position next to Yang.

"Get behind me!" Yang yelled before shooting the door as soon as the elevator arrived.

The door exploded outwards, leaving a gaping hole the Stormtroopers were forced to crawl through. The first trooper fell the second he stepped into the hole, creating another obstacle for his comrades. They streamed through the breach, laying down a barrage that forced Blake and Yang to flee into the hallway.

"Can't get out that way." Yang said as she and Blake met up with Ruby and Weiss.

"Looks like you managed to cut off our only escape route." Weiss said.

"Maybe you'd like it better back in your cell, your highness?" Yang said snidely. Weiss' retort was cut short by a blaster bolt impacting near her head. The group took cover on either side of the corridor, with Blake and Yang laying down suppressing fire while Ruby took out a communicator and shielded Weiss as best she could.

"Ren! Ren, come in! Are there any other ways out of the cell bay? We've been cut off!" she yelled.

"All systems have been alerted to your presence, ma'am." Ren said, "The main entrance seems to be the only way in or out. All other information on your level is restricted." A knocking on the door made him turn the communicator off on reflex.

"There isn't any other way out!" Ruby yelled across to Yang.

"Well, now what? We can't hold 'em off forever!" Yang replied.

"This is some rescue!" Weiss yelled sarcastically, "You came down here without a plan to get out?"

"She's the brains, sweetheart!" Yang yelled, pointing at Ruby. Rolling her eyes, Weiss took the blaster from Ruby's hands and blasted a grate between Yang and Blake. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Somebody has to save our skins! Into the garbage chute flygirl!" Weiss said as she moved across the hallway and dived down the hole she had made after tossing Ruby her blaster. Blake made to follow her, but stopped with one foot in.

"Get in there!" Yang yelled.

"No way! Something down there doesn't smell right!" Blake yelled.

"Get in there, ya cat-eared crybaby! I don't care what ya smell!" she kicked Blake in the ass with her heel and ignored the obscenities her friend yelled at her on the way down. "Wonderful girl!" Yang yelled to Ruby, "Before I wanted to kill her. Now I'm beginning to like her! Get in!" Ruby dived in, followed by Yang a few seconds later.


	8. 8

The garbage pile they landed in didn't seem as bad as one might imagine. There was about eight inches of liquid on the floor, but the majority of the refuse was metal and plastic. On the other hand...

"The garbage chute was a great idea." Yang said with all the sarcasm, "What an amazing smell you've discovered!"

"I told you!" Blake yelled, taking a break from her pounding on the door.

"Let's get out of here." Yang muttered, aiming at the door. Ruby tried to stop her but was too late. The bolt bounced off the door and the walls several times. Everybody took cover until they heard it explode when it made contact with a piece of refuse on the opposite side of the compactor.

"Will you forget it?! I already tried, it's magnetically sealed!" Ruby yelled.

"Put that thing away! You're gonna get us all killed!" Weiss added at the same volume.

"Absolutely, your worship." Yang said, her eyes turning red to match her anger, "Look, I had everything under control until you led us down here. You know, it's not gonna take long for them to figure out what happened to us."

"Well, it could be worse." Weiss snapped back. On cue, a loud roaring echoed through the compactor.

"It's worse." Yang said.

"There's something alive in here." Ruby whined, sensing it.

"That's your imagination."

Ruby jumped as she felt something brush past her leg. Looking down, she saw some kind of tentacle descend into the water. Ruby pointed it out, but nobody saw anything. Blake was the only one who believed Ruby. She hadn't seen it either, but her instincts were practically screaming at her that something else was in there with them. And she wanted out. Badly.

Before she knew what happened, a tentacle wrapped around Ruby's leg and dragged her down into the muck.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled. She searched around where Ruby went down, but found nothing. Ruby resurfaced a few feet from them, the tentacle now wrapped around her torso. She gasped for air and struggled to stay above the liquid awful, grabbing onto Yang's outstretched arm.

"Quick, shoot it!" she gurgled out.

"Where?" Yang asked desperately.

"Anywhere!" she yelled. Yang fired a few times into the muck, earning another roar before Ruby was dragged back under. About a minute later, a metallic clanging was heard and she finally came back up, coughing and gasping for air.

"What happened?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know." Ruby hacked. She had unfortunately got some of the liquid in her system and it took all she had to not vomit, "It just let go of me and disappeared."

There was a loud groaning. "I got a bad feeling about this." Yang said. she was proven correct when the walls began to close in on them.

"The walls are closing in!" Ruby said.

"Don't just stand there, try and brace it with something!" Weiss said, lifting up a long metal pipe. Yang took it from her and easily lifted it over her head, holding it in place to brace against the walls. Ruby suddenly remembered her communicator.

"Ren! Ren! Come in, Ren!" she yelled into it.

Her cries went underheard however. Ren had left the communicator on the control console and was nowhere to be seen when the door to the control room was forcefully unlocked and stormtroopers swarmed in. They began checking the bodies and heard a metallic tapping behind them. The opened one of the doors to find Ren and Penny behind it.

"They're madmen!" Ren cried, "They're headed for the prison level! If you hurry you might catch them!" His half-truth worked and the squad left a single man to stand guard. He took the communicator and deactivated it, motioning to Penny to follow him. When he noticed the guard, he halted. With a glance at Penny, a plan came to mind, though it went against most of his programming.

"All this excitement seems to have overrun the circuits in my counterpart here." He lied through his teeth (grill that constitutes a mouth?) "If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to take her down to maintenance."

"Sure." The trooper said, allowing them to pass.

Ruby kept trying the communicator as the walls finally met the pipe Yang was holding. She tried to hold it steady, but was unable to keep it from bending under the hydraulic pressure.

Ren and Penny were back outside the hangar, looking for the others.

"They're not here. Something must have happened to them." Ren said, turning to Penny, "See if they've been captured." Penny plugged into a nearby terminal, whining as she checked.

"One thing's for sure" Yang said, accepting the reality of the situation, "We're all gonna be a whole lot thinner."

Penny whistled upon finishing her search.

"Thank goodness they haven't been captured. But where could they be?" Penny whistled again. "The commlink? Oh, I forgot, I turned it off." He pulled it out and reactivated it. "Are you there, ma'am?"

"REN?!"

"We've had some problems- "he tried to explain before Ruby cut him off.

"Will you shut up and listen to me!" she yelled through gritted teeth. She was now caught between all the trash and it was starting to crush her. "Shut down all the garbage smashers on the detention level, got it?" She yelled the command several times, hoping the urgency in her voice would speed things up. It did.

"No, no, shut them all down! Hurry!" Ren told Penny. She worked as fast as she could to save her mistress's life.

It looked like she wouldn't be fast enough when the walls suddenly halted. The group cheered, though Ren mistook the joyful cheering for screams of pain.

"Oh no, listen to them, P3, they're dying! Curse my metal body, I wasn't fast enough! It's all my fault!"

"Ren, we're alright!" Ruby told him trough the commlink. "We're alright! You did great! Ha haaaa! Hey get us out of here, will ya? Open the pressure maintenance hatch on- where the hell are we?"

"326-3827!" Yang yelled as she hugged Weiss, who hugged her back.

Taiyang continued along the corridor, keeping his lightsaber handy in case he needed it. he turned a corner onto a catwalk over a deep pit with a generator attached off the side. Carefully, hugging the side of the generator, he crept to the far side where he began the work of deactivating the tractor beam.

Outside the trash compactor, Yang and Ruby had shed their stormtrooper disguises, keeping the belts and the weapons while Weiss did her hair back up into it's usual side ponytail.

"Well, if we can just avoid any more royal decision-making, we ought to make good time getting the hell outta here." Yang said, with a pointed look at Weiss, who scowl-smiled back.

"Let's do it, then." Ruby said, ruffling her hair to get it the way she liked it. A loud noise came from the garbage masher.

"NOPE! Nope! Can we get the fuck out of here now?" Blake yelled in fright.

"Where're you going?" Yang said. When Blake refused to even speak, she scoffed and shot the trash. "Come 'ere ya big coward." Blake shook her head. "Blake, get over here!"

"Listen," Weiss hissed, "I don't know who you are or where you came from, but from now on, you do as I tell you. 'Kay?" She walked off, leaving Yang with her mouth hanging open to catch up.

"Listen your worshipfulness," Yang said once she had found her voice, "Let's get something straight, I take orders from exactly one person: me."

"It's a wonder you're still alive." Weiss said sarcastically.

"No amount of reward is worth this." Yang complained out loud.

As Taiyang was working on the tractor beam generator, a squad of troopers entered the same room. Hearing them coming, he quickly adjusted a dial to make it appear as though the generator was still operating correctly.

"Give me regular reports." The leader told the two men he set to stand guard.

As the guards made small talk, Taiyang finished his work and walked around to the side opposite from the troopers. Using the Force, he made the troopers think they heard something behind them. When they turned to inspect, he quietly made a break for the exit.

Making their way to an observation window overlooking the hangar, Yang was relieved to see the Falcon still in once piece.

"There she is." She sighed, not knowing she had been holding her breath.

"Ren, you there?" Ruby said into the commlink.

"Yes, ma'am." Ren replied.

"Are you two safe?"

"For the moment. We're in the main hangar across from the ship."

"Got it. We're right above you, sit tight."

"You came in that thing?" Weiss said, getting Yang's attention, "You're braver than I thought."

"Nice." Yang said, taking it as a compliment, "Come on."

The quietly made their way through the halls, Yang leading the way with her blaster at the ready. The turned a corner and were met with a squad of stormtroopers.

"There they are! Blast 'em!" one of them yelled before Yang shot him dead. The rest of the squad retreated down the hall, Yang hot on their heels.

"Get back to the ship!" She yelled.

"Where are you going?" Ruby yelled after her.

"For Menagerie!" Blake cried, running after Yang with a heavy blaster rifle.

"She certainly has courage." Weiss was forced to admit.

"What good's it do her if it gets her killed?" Ruby sighed, as she led Weiss the other way.

Yang yelled as she charged after the stormtroopers, Blake hot on her heels. These battle-cries soon turned into shouts of terror as she rounded a corner into a docking bay filled with the bastards. Blake soon caught up to her to see her running back around the corner, barely dodging a hail of blaster fire.

"Run, Blake! RUN!"

Ruby and Weiss were facing similar problems. Ruby laid down suppressing fire as she followed Weiss down the hallway. They eventually ran into a ravine within the battle station, Ruby almost falling off the edge.

"I think we took a wrong turn." Ruby said as the troopers caught up with them. Weiss closed the door behind them, but there wasn't a lock. Ruby blasted the control panel, thus locking the door and solving one problem. But she had also created another.

"Well, that oughtta hold them a while." Ruby said.

"Now we just need to get across this. Find the controls that extend the bridge." Weiss said.

In searching for said controls, Ruby's stomach dropped. "I think I just blasted it." She looked around for another option and noticed some structures with metal beams attached. Maybe...

Before she could finish her thought, a blaster bolt impacted near her foot. Another group of troopers on a ledge above them across the ravine had started firing on them. Weiss took cover as Ruby took pot shots at them. She managed to hit one, who let out the infamous Wilhelm Scream as he fell from the ledge.

"Here," Ruby said, handing Weiss the blaster, "Cover me." As Weiss began firing- with far more success than Ruby, it should be noted- Ruby began pulling out a length of wire from her utility belt. She had pulled out about fifteen feet of wire attached to a hook when the door behind them opened slightly. She tossed the hook and managed to loop it about one of the metal bars above them. Weiss wrapped her arms about Ruby and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"For luck." She explained. Ruby took the win and swung across. Thankfully, the wire held and they made it across. Ruby unhooked the wire from her belt and they made it into the next hallway by the time the door finally lifted.

Yang and Blake were still running from the troopers when the door in front of them started to close. Thinking fast, Yang shot the control panel. She and Blake triple-timed it and made it through just before the doors closed, leaving the troopers on the other side to impotently order the doors open.

Taiyang was walking down another hallway outside the hangar, when he ran into Vader, standing tall and saber burning a deep red. She casually approached Taiyang, who activated his own blue blade.

"I have been waiting for you, Tai." Vader said confidently. "We meet again at last." Taiyang took a defensive stance, while Vader took a more aggressive stance, their sabers crossing in the middle of the blades. "The circle is complete. When I left you, I was but a learner. Now, I am the master."

"Only a master of evil, Darth." Tai replied, making the first move, a high strike. Vader blocked and reposted low then high, locking blades in front of them. She broke the lock and thrusted a couple times, forcing her older opponent to spin on the spot a block a few more attacks at his midsection.

Tai went for a low-high combo before swapping places with Vader. He moved his blade before him, hoping to confuse Vader.

"Your powers are weak, Old Man." Vader taunted.

"You can't win, Darth." Tai said with the ghost of a smile, "If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine." He feinted a strike at her arm, before switching to a driving slash at her shoulder, which Vader blocked easily, holding Tai's blade in place with almost no effort.

"You should not have come back." Vader warned. She knew she had all the advantages. She had a bit of height on Tai, as well as youth and raw power. Sure, Tai had a few years of experience on her, but she had been through more combat than her old master acting as the Empress's personal enforcer. Their fight continued for sometime, with Vader and Tai trading attack and defense, strikes, blocks, counterattacks and parries.

Elsewhere, Yang and Blake had made it back to the hangar.

"Thought we just left this party." Yang grumbled, seeing all the soldiers still in the hangar. She turned at a noise behind her to see Ruby and Weiss running up. "What kept ya?"

"We, uh, ran into some old friends." Weiss said, a little out of breath.

"The ship alright?" Ruby asked, winded as well.

"Looks good from here." Yang said, "Just need to figure out how to get to it, preferably without dying. And assuming the Old Man got the tractor beam down."

Taiyang and Vader's fight grew so loud, it drew the attention of the troops in the hangar, who ran over to watch. Seeing this, Yang's eyes widened at her supposed change of luck.

"What the hell?" she said with concern.

"Gift horse, Yang." Blake said.

"Good point. Go!" Yang ordered, and the four ladies quietly hurried into the hangar proper.

Ren and Penny met them half-way to the ship, but then Ruby saw the fight.

"Ben?"

Tai looked over and saw Ruby standing there, Yang and Blake leading Weiss and the droids onto the ship. He looked back at Vader and a smile began to grace his lips. He stepped back, dropping his defenses in some form of prayer. Vader took the chance and sliced through him at the chest.

"NO!"


	9. 9 End

The troopers watching the fight turned to see Ruby angrily opening fire at them. They returned fire, but missed wildly. Vader investigated the remains of Taiyang. He seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving only his clothes and lightsaber.

"Ruby, come on!" Weiss yelled, taking cover from the firefight.

"Blast the door, kid!" Yang yelled, seeing Vader turning their way.

Ruby did as requested and blasted the doors' control panel, closing and locking it in Vader's face. She took down a few more troopers before she heard a voice in her head. It was Taiyang.

"Run, Ruby, run!" he said. she complied, boarding the Falcon as it started taking off and the ramp was raised up.

"I hope the Old Man got that tractor beam out of commission," Yang said as she entered the cockpit, Blake already working the controls, "Otherwise, this is gonna be one helluva short trip. Hit it!" The Falcon backed out of the hangar and flew into the void.

"Looks like it worked." Blake said as they put as much distance between them and the Death Star as possible.

"So far, but we're coming up on their sentry ships." Yang frowned. The Falcon was a tough old bird, but she wasn't overly much of a fighter. Unfortunately, there was nothing for it. "Angle the deflector shields while I charge up the guns."

"Got it."

In the lounge, Ruby was sitting at the game table, tears falling from her eyes. Weiss walked up and put a blanket over her shoulders.

"Can't believe he's gone." She sniffled.

Yang came out into the lounge, putting on a pair of gloves. "No time to cry, kid." She said. "We aren't out of the woods yet." She started to climb up a ladder. Ruby followed, climbing down into a gun emplacement, while Leia ran to assist Blake in the cockpit.

The gun was a simple four-barrel blaster turret controlled by the gunner with a headset so the gunners could coordinate.

"Alright, kid, stay sharp." Yang said.

"Here they come." Weiss told them as a quartet of TIE fighters flew past them.

The battle was hectic to say the least. One freighter versus four small ships designed for nothing but combat? It was hardly a contest. The first salvo came from the rear, but the freighter held up to the assault. Ruby and Yang fired at the smaller ships in the hopes of taking one of the bastards down, but the aiming systems on the guns were so confusing and the fighters were so fast that hitting them was mostly a crap-shoot.

"We lost lateral controls." Weiss said after another hard hit.

"Don't worry, she'll hold together." Yang assured her. Some circuits behind her overloaded. "Hear me, baby? Hold together."

Yang was the first to make a kill, cheering as she watched the explosion.

"I got him! I got him!" Ruby yelled up when she scored a kill a few seconds later.

"Great, kid!" Yang yelled down, "Don't get cocky!"

"Down to two!" Weiss reminded them.

Ruby scored the third kill about a minute later. The last fighter came straight at Yang. She fired non-stop until, finally, the lasers found the mark and destroyed the fighter in a multi-color explosion. Sliding back in her seat, Yang left out a long sigh.

"Yeah!" Ruby cheered.

"They did it!" Weiss cheered, hugging Blake, who hugged her back.

On the Death Star, Sienna stood on the bridge, watching the Falcon escape. Vader came up behind her.

"Are they away?" Sienna asked, hearing Vader's approach.

"They've just made the jump into hyperspace." She reported.

"And you're sure the homing beacon is secure aboard their ship? This is an awfully big risk to take, Vader. It had better work, for both our sakes."

Yang and Weiss sat in the cockpit of the Falcon as it flew through hyperspace.

"Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh?" Yang said with a cocky smirk, "You know, sometimes, I amaze even myself."

"That doesn't sound too hard." Weiss drawled, "They let us go, it's the only way to explain such an easy escape."

"Easy? Ya call that back there easy?"

"They're tracking us."

"Not this ship, sister."

Weiss sighed, knowing a lost cause when she saw it. "I'm just glad the information in P3 is still intact."

"So, what is she carrying that's so important?"

"The complete technical readout of that battle station. I only hope that by analyzing the data a weakness can be found. It's not over yet."

"It is for me, sister. Let's get something straight: I ain't in this for your revolution and I ain't in it for you. I expect to be well-paid when this is over. I'm in it for the money."

"Don't worry. If money is all you care about, then money is what you'll get." Weiss left in a huff, running into Ruby on the way out. "Your friend is quite the mercenary. I wonder if she actually cares about anything. Or anybody."

"I care!" Ruby said, trying to make her feel better. She took a seat next to Yang, "So, what do you think of her?"

"Trying not to, kid." Yang replied, checking the most recently updated galactic maps to make sure their destination was still there in the first place.

"Good." Ruby said before looking down with a little grin.

"Although," Yang said, looking at where Weiss had left, "She does have a lot of spirit." Ruby's eyes widened in worry. "I don't know. What do you think? A princess and a girl like me- "

"No." Ruby said quickly. Yang looked her in the eyes and chuckled.

'Alright, kid. Challenge accepted.' She thought as they entered orbit over a red planet. They by-passed the actual planet in favor of a moon on the far side, landing near one of a series of large stone structures jutting up from the canopy.

Upon closer inspection, the large structures were temples of some kind, and the Rebellion had taken up residence in one. The ground floor was used as a docking bay for individual starships, all of them gunmetal grey with patches of red or yellow paint on them. Penny was turned over to a group of scientists who analyzed the data within her. Weiss and Ren were taken to the top brass to tell them the situation and what they potentially faced. Ruby was led to the military captains and given permission to take part in the impending attack. Yang and Blake went with Weiss to get their reward.

A few hours later, the Death Star entered orbit over the red planet.

"Yes?" Sienna said into her desktop communicator.

"We are approaching the planet Yavin. The Rebel base is on a moon on the far side. We are preparing to orbit the planet."

At the same time, the Rebel strike force was gathered in a briefing room.

"The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the Star Fleet." An older general said as a technical readout of the Death Star appeared on a screen behind him. "Its defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small, one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense."

"Excuse me, sir," one of the pilots said, raising his hand, "But what use are stunt fighters going to be against that?"

"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defense." The general explained. "An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Weiss has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. But the approach will not be easy." The image on screen zoomed in to an outline of a small corridor and began moving down it. "You're required to maneuver straight down this trench, and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide." This sent murmurs throughout the assembled pilots. "It's a small thermal exhaust port right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The target shaft is ray shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes."

"That's impossible, even for a computer." A white-haired, blue-eyed young man sitting next to Ruby said.

"No, it's not impossible." Ruby said, "I used to bulls-eye womp rats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."

"Any questions?" the general asked. Nobody had any questions. "Then man your ships. And may the Force be with you."

The Death Star had achieved orbit over Yavin, and Sienna and Vader were oberserving from the bridge.

"Orbiting the planet at maximum velocity." The deck officer reported. "The moon with the Rebel base will be in range in thirty minutes."

"This will be a day long remembered." Vader said proudly. "It has seen the end of Xiao Long, and it will soon see the end of the Rebellion."

Sienna agreed, but still maintained a healthy amount of concern. She hadn't reached her current position without a generous amount of doubt to keep her grounded.

A few minutes later, Ruby, now dressed in a flight suit and holding a helmet of her own, turned a corner to see Blake and Yang loading boxes of credits onto a cart.

"So," she said, walking up to Yang, "You got your reward and you're just gonna leave?"

"That's right." Yang replied, brushing off Ruby's anger, "I got some old debts I gotta pay off with this stuff. Even if I didn't, you don't think I'd be fool enough to stick around here, do ya?" she put another box on the cart and turned back to Ruby, "Why don't you come with us? You're pretty handy in a fight, we could use you."

"Yang, look around. You know what's about to happen, what they're up against. They could use a pilot like you, but you're turning your back on them."

"What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it? Besides, attacking that battle station ain't my idea of heroism. It's more like, suicide."

"Yeah, well, take care of yourself, Yang. I guess that's what you're best at, right?" Ruby walked off in a huff.

"Ruby!" Yang called out, stopping her. "May the Force be with you." Ruby nodded and carried on.

"So, what now, Raven?" Blake said with a frown.

"Piss off." Yang said, grabbing another box. "I know what I'm doing."

A few minutes, later, Ruby and Weiss met in the hangar.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked.

"Ah, it's just Yang." Ruby said, trying to play it off, "I don't know, I guess I thought she'd change her mind."

"Ruby, Yang's got to follow her own path. No one else can choose it for her." Weiss said, quoting something her Uncle Klein had said.

"I only wish Ben were here." Ruby said sadly. Weiss smiled and kissed Ruby's forehead before heading off with the other leaders.

Ruby had finally reached her ship when a familiar voice called out to her. She turned to see Cinder dressed in the same pilot outfit she was wearing, only hers was far more form-fitting and accentuated every curve she had.

"Cin!" Ruby said, wrapping her old friend in a massive hug that was returned in kind.

"I don't believe it! How are you?" she said happily. "Are you coming up with us?"

"I'll be right up there with ya, and boy do I have some stories to tell you."

"Rose," another pilot said, Professor Port of all people, "Are you sure you can handle this ship?"

"Sir, Ruby's one of the best push-pilots in the Outer Rim territories." Cinder vouched for her friend.

"You'll do." Port said with a smile.

"Thank you, sir. I'll try." Ruby said.

"Listen, I gotta get to my ship. But once we get back, we are gonna have one massive catch-up session. Alright?"

"Gotcha. Hey Cin," Cinder turned to look at her friend, "I told ya I'd make it someday."

Cinder grinned, "It'll be just like old times, Rubes. They'll never stop us."

As Ruby climbed a ladder to get in her ship, she saw Penny being lowered into a slot behind the cockpit.

"Hey, this P3 unit seems a little beat-up." One of the technicians said, "You sure you don't want a newer model?"

"Not on your life." Ruby replied, "That little droid and I have been through a lot together. You okay there, Penny?" Penny whistled in response.

"Good." Ruby grinned as she climbed in.

"Hold on, Penny, you've got to come back." Ren pleaded as Penny was locked into place. "You wouldn't want my life to boring, now would you?"

One by one, the fighters began to lift into the air and float out of the hangar, their sub-light engines seeming like fireflies once they broke the atmosphere.

"Ruby, the Force will be with you." Taiyang's voice said in Ruby's head as she made her way into the void.

Weiss and Ren walked into the situation room of their base and stood before a large disk. It showed the relative positions of the moon and the Death Star as they orbited Yavin, along with the effective firing range of the Death Star's primary weapon.

"Stand-by alert." A voice said over the intercom, "Death Star approaching. Estimated time to firing range: 15 minutes."

In the void, the strike force broke into squadrons based on fighter classification, with the Y-shaped fighters in one group, and the fixed wing fighters in another.

"All wings report in." Port ordered as they began their approach on the Death Star. One by one they answered.

"Red Ten, standing-by."

"Red Seven, standing-by."

"Red Three, standing-by." Cinder said.

"Red Six, standing-by." A rather fat man said.

"Red Nine, standing-by."

"Red Two, standing-by." Jaune said nervously.

"Red Eleven, standing-by."

"Red Five, standing-by." Ruby said.

"Lock S-foils in attack position." Port ordered when everyone was accounted for. One by one, the wings of their fighters split down the middle, forming the shape of an X. "We're passing through their magnetic field." Port said as they hit a patch of turbulence. "Hold tight! Switch your deflectors to double front."

"Look at the size of that thing." Jaune said as the fighters moved closer.

"Cut the chatter Red Two!" Port ordered. "Accelerate to attack speed. This is it, lads!"

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader." Dr. Oobleck said into his radio.

"I copy, Gold Leader." Port replied.

"We're starting for the target shaft now."

"We're in position. Go for it, we'll try to draw their fire."

The X-Wings peeled off from the Y-wings and went in closer. They were able to easily dodge the incoming turbolaser fire, darting about nimbly while the Imperial troops inside desperately tried to zero in their cumbersome guns.

"This is Red Five, I'm goin' in." Ruby said before angling her fighter down in a divebomb, her ships laser cannons going full auto.

"Ruby, pull up!" Cinder called over the radio. "Ruby, are you okay?!"

"I got a little cooked, but I'm good, Cin."

"Freaking maniac, stay close. I'm not losing you this soon after reuniting."

"Copy that."

Within the Death Star, troops were running all over the place. A military officer quickly found Darth Vader to relay the situation to her.

"My Lady," he said with a bow, "We count thirty Rebel ships out there, but they're so small they're avoiding our turbolasers."

"We'll have to destroy them ship-to-ship. Get the crews to their fighters." Vader ordered.

Outside, the battle was heating up for Red Squadron.

"Watch yourselves," Port said, "There's a lot of fire coming from the left side of that deflection tower."

"I'll take care of it." Ruby said.

"I'm going in." Cinder said, "Cover me Porkins."

"I'm right with ya, Red Three." The fat pilot said. They quickly buzzed the tower, firing as they went, and destroyed it.

"You have no respect for the rule of dibs, do you Cin?" Ruby joked over the radio, making Cinder smile.

"I got a problem here." Porkins said.

"Eject." Cinder told him, her smile disappearing.

"I can hold it." he said.

"Pull up!" Cinder yelled, seeing that he couldn't.

"No, I'm al-AGH!" his fighter blew up in a gout of flame, for seemingly no reason.

"The Rebel base will be in firing range in seven minutes." The bridge officer said as Sienna tensely watched the unfolding battle.

"Squad leaders," the commander back on the Rebel moon said, "We've picked up a new group of signals. Imperial fighters headed your way."

"My scope's negative, I don't see anything." Ruby said, checking her instruments.

"Keep your eyes open." Port ordered, "Here they come." Half a dozen TIE fighters descended upon the rebel fighters, breaking formation to engage in one-on-one fights.

"Once you pick one up, watch it!" Ruby warned.

"I can't see it!" Cinder yelled. "This asshole's on me tight. I can't shake him."

"Hang on Cin, I'll be right there." Ruby assured her. She moved as fast as her ship allowed, quickly finding and destroying the enemy fighter.

In the hangar, Vader walked up to a pair of pilots. "Several fighters have broken off from the main group. Come with me." She ordered, leading the pilots to a different hangar.

"Watch yourself, Ruby. You got yourself a friend there." Jaune said as a TIE fighter began tailing Ruby. The enemy managed to hit one of Ruby's engines, but she didn't blow up.

"I'm hit, but not bad. Penny, see what you can do with it!" Penny whistled as she began to perform what maintenance she could.

"Red Seven, can you see Red Five?" Cinder asked.

"Negative, barely able to dodge all this fire." Red Seven replied "Red Five, where are you?"

"I can't shake him!" Ruby yelled.

"I'm on him, Ruby. Hold on." Jaune said, gaining sight of Ruby.

"Darn it, Cin, where are you?" Ruby said angrily. She didn't have to wait long before another X-Wing screamed past her directly at her pursuer and blasted him to bits. "Thanks Jaune."

"Nice shooting Arc. I owe you one." Cinder said.

"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader." Oobleck said, "We're starting our attack run." The Y-wings soared into the trench, dodging laser fire left and right. "The exhaust port is marked and locked in. Switch all power to front deflector screens. Gold Five, how many guns do you think there are?"

"I'd say about twenty. Some on towers, some on the surface."

They continued to dodge laser fire as the Death Star passed the five minute mark.

"Switch to targeting computers." Oobleck ordered. A metal box moved forward and dropped into position next to his eye. It displayed his distance from the target ticking down and a pair of vertical lines moving closer together. No sooner had they switched did the lasers cease fire.

"The guns, they've stopped." Gold Five said. A growing anxiety blossomed in Oobleck's gut. Why? Why would they let up their suppressing fire? It was likely that the enemy analysts had figured out their attack pattern, and if that were the case, the best option would be to increase the barrage, not stop it completely. What the hell were they playing at?

"Stabilize rear deflectors." Oobleck ordered. "Watch for enemy fighters."

"Here they come!" Gold Five reported. "Three marks at 210!"

A pair of TIE fighters flanked another fighter with a different wing design.

"Stay in attack formation. I'll take them myself." Vader ordered. The enemy trio fell in behind their quarry and waited. Once Vader had acquired a lock, she fired on the Y-Wing on the left, destroying it.

"It's no good, I can't maneuver!" Oobleck said.

"Stay on target." Gold Five said.

"We're too close!"

"Stay on target!"

"Loosen up!" Oobleck ordered before Vader turned her guns on him and he was no more.

"Gold Five to Red Leader." He said as he pulled out of the trench. "Lost Oobleck, lost Hutch. They came from behind- " was all he could get out before Vader finished the job.

On the bridge, the deck officer walked up to Sienna, who was far more relaxed now that Vader was out there and the battle seemed to be going in their favor.

"We've analyzed their attack, ma'am, and there is a danger." He told her, "Shall I have your shuttle standing-by?"

"Evacuate? In our moment of triumph?" Sienna looked at the man as if he had taken leave of his senses, "I think you overestimate their chances."

"Rebel base three minutes and closing."

Outside, Port took overall field command. "Red lads, this is Red Leader. Rendevous at mark 6.1"

"This is Red Two, headed your way."

"Red Three standing by."

"Red Leader, this is Base One. Keep half your group out of range for the next run." The commander ordered.

"Copy that, Base One. Ruby, take Reds Two and Three. Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run."

A trio of X-Wings began their run and it went much the same as Gold Squadron's run; they were bombarded but easily dodged the turbolasers, which promptly stopped after a time. However, this time, Red Squadron was ready.

"Keep your eyes out for those fighters." Port said.

"There's too much interference." His wingman said, "Red Five can you see them?"

"Not yet," Ruby said, scanning the trench line, "Wait, there they are. Coming in at point 35."

"I see 'em." The wingman said while Port activated his targeting computer.

"Almost in range, just hold' em off for a few seconds." Port said, looking into his targeting computer.

As Port closed in on the objective, Vader's squad tightened up their formation while Vader herself took aim. Vader took one down, then one of her wingmen took out the other, leaving Port on his own. But they had bought him enough time. His computer went off and he fired his torpedoes.

"X away!" he cheered, pulling out of the trench as the torpedoes exploded, rocking that section of the Death Star and sending the crew there falling to the ground.

"Red Leader, please confirm." The commander ordered.

"Negative." Port reported, "Negative. It didn't go in. Just impacted on the surface."

Ruby looked down and saw the modified TIE fighter on Port's tail. "Red Leader, we're right above you. Turn to point 05, we'll cover you." She said.

"Negative. Hold your position, I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run." He ordered. Vader fired and hit him in one of his engines. Port yelled as he struggled to keep his X-Wing in the air. The last Ruby saw of him was an explosion that tore across the surface of the station as he crashed.

Anger and loss filled Ruby, but she pushed them aside, knowing that she was the Rebellion's last chance at destroying the Empire's greatest weapon.

"Rebel base, one minute and closing." Sienna smiled to herself. Victory was within her grasp and she could almost taste it.

"Cin, Jaune let's close it up." Ruby said, taking charge of what was left of the strike force. "We're going in, but do it at full throttle. That oughtta keep those fighters off our tail."

"Right with ya boss." Jaune said.

"Ruby, at that speed will you be able to pull out in time?" Cinder said.

"Be just like Begger's Canyon back home." Ruby said confidently as they dived into the trench.

"We'll stay back far enough to cover you." Cinder said, making a few adjustments.

"My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port." Jaune said, "You sure the computer can hit it?"

"Increase speed to full throttle." Ruby ordered as they entered the worst of the bombardment.

"What about that tower?" Jaune reiterated.

"You worry about those fighters! I'll worry about the tower." Ruby retorted. "Penny, that stabilizer's broken loose again! See if you can't lock it down." Penny whistled as she got to work.

When the towers stopped firing, Cinder and Jaune began looking around for the fighters while Ruby got set up for her shot. On cue, the enemy trio came up behind them and one of the wingmen took a shot at Jaune. It hit, but didn't destroy him.

"I'm hit!" Jaune said, looking at the damage readout. "I can't stay with you."

"Pull out, Jaune. You can't do any good back there." Ruby ordered.

"Sorry." Jaune said as he peeled out of the trench, leaving only Cinder and Ruby against Vader's squad.

"Let him go. Stay on the leader." Vader ordered.

"Make it fast, Rubes." Cinder said with worry evident in her voice, "They're coming in much faster this time. I can't hold 'em myself."

"Penny, try and increase the power!"

"Ruby, hurry- wait. Wait!" Cinder said, struggling to make needed adjustments before Vader fired and blew her up too. And now Ruby was alone. She dodged as best she could while turning on her targeting computer.

"Use the Force, Ruby." She heard Taiyang's voice tell her. She ignored it, focusing on the computer. "Let go, Ruby."

Vader frowned behind her mask. "The Force is strong with this one." She said to herself.

"Ruby, trust me." Ruby thought about all she had learned and been through. Taiyang hadn't led her wrong yet. Maybe it was time she put her money where her mouth was and started really trusting the Force. She pressed a button and her targeting computer retracted.

"She's turned off her computer." The commander said, "Ruby, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm alright." She replied. Vader took a shot at her, but Penny took the hit. "Penny!" Ruby yelled as her robot friend screamed in pain.

"Rebel base in range."

"You may fire when ready." Sienna ordered. The fire control room set to work preparing to fire the Death Star's main cannon.

"I have you now." Vader said as she gained a lock on Ruby. She was about to fire when one of her wingmen blew-up. "What?!"

"Yeah-hoo!" Yang cheered as the Falcon came into view. Vader's other wingman lost control in the confusion, and accidently ran into Vader's ship before crashing himself. "You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home." Yang said over the Rebel radio, surprising even Weiss.

Ruby fired and watched as the torpedoes entered the shaft. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and quickly got the hell out of Dodge, Yang and the remaining two strike fighters right behind her.

As they cleared the halfway point, the Death Star exploded with such force that it created a second blast wave, barely visible after the first.

"Great shot, kid. That was one in a million!" Yang said.

"Remember, the Force will be with you, always." Taiyang's spectral voice told her.

Upon her return, Ruby was greeted with a hero's welcome, Weiss running up to hug her. She had built up such speed that Ruby couldn't resist picking her up and spinning her around. Yang soon made her way to them.

"You daughter of a bastard, I knew you'd come back! I just knew it!" Ruby said happily, throwing a hug on her.

"Well, I wasn't gonna let you get all the credit and take all the reward." She said, giving Ruby a nooggie.

"I knew there was more to you than just money." Weiss said happily.

Their smiles all fell as Penny was lowered to the ground. "Oh, man." Ruby said. Penny was, in a word, fucked. She was covered in blaster burns and several of her panels hung open, revealing the components within. Ren was probably the most distraught.

"Penny! Penny! Speak to me!" he turned to a technician, "You can fix her can't you?"

"We'll get to work on her right away." He assured Ren.

"You must repair her!" He turned to Ruby. "Ma'am if any of my circuits or gears would help, I'll gladly donate them."

"She'll be alright, Ren." Ruby assured him before walking off with Weiss, Blake and Yang.

A few days later, a grand ceremony was held within the base. The entirety of the Rebellion on the planet was gathered within the largest hall, organized by occupation, with Weiss and the other leaders standing on a raised dais. Ruby, Blake and Yang walked down the aisle created by the Rebels, Ruby and Yang in front, with Blake bringing up the rear.

Weiss had changed into a more regal dress, done her hair up in a braided bun, and wore a necklace of chrome squares. Ruby was wearing black dress pants and shirt under a red jacket. Yang remained in her usual gear, though she had put on dress pants and wore a less revealing shirt. Blake thought such things were silly, and wore her usual outfit.

"Eyes, Front!" Blake called out as the trio reached the base. On command, the rest of the Rebels turned to face the dais. The trio reached the top, staying one step down. Weiss stepped forward and regarded the three people who were now essentially galactic heroes. She gave Ruby a big smile, but when Yang did the same, her smile was more polite than anything. The Old General stepped forward with a trio of medallions, one for each hero, which Weiss herself placed around their necks. When she finished, all three bowed to her.

The ceremony was briefly interrupted when Penny whistled loudly and wobbled out from behind a newly shined Ren. All four members of Team RWBY chuckled at her antics before turning to face the assembled Rebellion. They were met with jubilant applause and cheers as the scene changed to the final credits.


End file.
